


Side-Step

by airandangels



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Cunnilingus, Dildos, Established Relationship, F/F, Face-Sitting, Falling In Love, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Fucking Machines, Gem Sex, I find that name for it annoying somehow, I never know whether these tags are more like warnings or more like advertisements, Laughter During Sex, Lesbian Sex, Masturbation, Petplay, Polyamory, Praise Kink, Pre-Poly, Sex Talk, Sexual Frustration, Sexual Roleplay, Shapeshifting, Size Difference, Squirting, Submission, Threesome - F/F/F, Tribadism, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Fisting, Verbal Humiliation, and it's only imaginary, but buggered if I know what else to call it, well just one really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:43:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 156,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6030193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airandangels/pseuds/airandangels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>THIS STORY IS AN AU THAT SPLITS OFF FROM CANON AFTER THE PERIDOT REDEMPTION BOMB OF JANUARY 2016.  Please expect multiple differences from canon as a result.  CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.</p><p>This was originally an optional chapter of my T-rated story <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/5676712/chapters/13077076">Two-Step</a>, because, well, I wanted Pearl and Jasper to bang but I didn't feel it fitted in with the overall tone of that story.  The first chapter takes take place between chapters 18 and 19 of Two-Step.  </p><p>However, stuff happens and it has ultimately ended up becoming the continuation of the story.  It got too difficult and disjointed to separate the filthy part of the story from the slice-of-life family-and-friends stuff without creating continuity traps for myself (which become more likely as the story gets longer anyway).  Thus, the whole thing is now together and I hope the tonal shifts don't give anyone whiplash.</p><p>This also means that characters who are <i>absolutely not involved in anything sexual because they're too young for that biz</i> appear in this story, namely Steven and Connie.  Don't worry, everything for them will remain age-appropriate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Two-step](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5676712) by [airandangels](https://archiveofourown.org/users/airandangels/pseuds/airandangels). 



It was the first time Jasper had spent all night with one person, and she wasn’t entirely sure what Pearl expected of her.  She thought she was doing pretty well on the comfort side of things, with the gentle kisses and the hair-stroking and the just holding Pearl close to her.  She was going to have to admit ignorance, though, which was galling because she was pretty sure Pearl must have her marked down by now as very sweet but pretty much the most ignorant Gem in existence.  Still, it was going to bother her to keep on not knowing and Pearl was probably the least embarrassing person to ask, even if it meant disturbing her when she was resting her cheek against Jasper’s chest and looking so cosy and peaceful.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Pearl murmured.

“What’s up with kissing?”

“Hmm?”  One eye popped open.

“I mean, I like it and everything, I just don’t understand why anyone started doing it.  It’s such a weird idea when you really think about it.  Mouths are for talking, and for eating if you need to do that kind of thing, so why would anyone get the idea to squish them together to show affection?  This is a human thing, right?  It’s their idea?”

“Well, yes.”  Pearl propped her head up on her arm.  “I suppose it’s one of those things you just pick up through observation, cultural immersion and so on… not that we’ve been entirely immersed, but not entirely isolated either.  Rose always thought it was so sweet.  Look at their little _faces,_ she’d say.  She saw it made them happy and so she wanted to try it.  It’s not only a human thing.  If you get a chance to observe, a lot of mammals show similar behaviour - nuzzling or sniffing at each other’s mouths or noses, licking or nipping - some other primates actually do kiss with their lips, I think.  And on the other hand, it’s not a _universally_ human thing.  Some of their cultures did other similar things like pressing their noses together, or just didn’t _do_ kissing for a long time, and were confused when they first encountered it in others.  Some languages don’t have a native word for “kiss” and have had to adopt it from others.  As their travel and communications technologies have improved, though, there’s been a lot more transfer of ideas between cultures and it’s become fairly universally understood.”

“Huh.  So, um, this might be a really bad question to ask, and just ignore it if you don’t want to talk about it, but who else have you kissed?”

“Rose.  A long time ago.  It really became one of her favourite things.”

“Oh, I - well, I thought she didn’t feel the same way you did.”

“She didn’t.  She did _love_ me, but Rose was someone who could sincerely love many people.  I always wanted to be special to her - and I _was,_ but still, never in the same way I was to her.  Loving her was always sweetness and pain, mixed together.”

“Aw, Pearl.”

“It was always worth it, though.  I wouldn’t want to give up one second of the sweetness even if it meant I’d be free of all the pain.  Don’t start feeling sorry for me.  I do want your kindness, if you see what I mean, but not your sympathy.”

“No, I think I get that.  Still, I’m not going to not care that you were sad sometimes.”

“Maybe sympathy isn’t the right word.  Pity.  I definitely don’t want to be pitied.”

“I promise I don’t pity you.”  She kissed Pearl on the nose, which always made her wriggle happily.  “So, um, that leads to my next question, and this isn’t me taking anything for granted, okay?  Just me asking in case I ever need to know, and, you know, general curiosity.”

“Yes?”

“Is sex a lot different here, too?”

Pearl laughed a little, not unkindly.  “No, it’s mostly the same.  I’ve learned to use my mouth in some ways, like kissing but for different parts of your body.  We can do those if you want to try, but we don’t have to.  Hands never stop being important, though.  Especially beautiful strong hands like yours.”

“Oh, phew.  I was getting worried - you know, like you couldn’t be satisfied until I learned like ten new moves and I’d be feeling really stupid and clumsy and you wouldn’t be able to get off.  And I _want_ the kissing to be part of it, I love kissing you.  I wouldn’t’ve invented it on my own but I’m glad somebody did.  Plus,” and she wished she could stop babbling, but the way Pearl was talking as if they _were_ going to have sex had hot-wired her brain, “I mean, I’ve only ever been with other Jaspers and I didn’t know if maybe Pearls are different?  Apart from the obvious, like you’re so much littler and prettier.”

“Well, I haven’t been with any Jaspers, so if we are different in any important ways we’ll find out together, I suppose, the same way Rose and I did.”

“Oh?  So there were differences?  Like important ones?”

“Oh, not differences that made things difficult.  They only made things more interesting.  One obvious thing was just that we had such different builds, the same way you and I do, but Rose’s figure was a lot softer and fuller.  I _loved_ wrapping my arms around her and feeling as if I could just sink into her softness.  You have soft places too, don’t you?”  Her hand strayed down onto Jasper’s lower tummy, pressing very lightly to feel her yield.

“I’mverysensitivethere.”

“Oh - it’s not hurting, is it?”

“No, the opposite, it feels _really_ good.”

“Oh.  Good.”  Pearl stretched up to kiss her, keeping her hand just where it was.  “Do you know you’re blushing?”

“Feels like it,” she mumbled.

“I love how easily you blush.”

“I _don’t._  This is _you_ , what _you_ do to me.”

“Really?”

“Especially when you smile like that.  You’re _sneaky.”_

“Do you like sneaky little Pearls?”

“I like _you._  Come here.”  She rolled Pearl over with a little growl, still careful not to really put her weight on her, but kissing her heavily.  She giggled and squealed as they went over but the squeal shaded into a deep, throaty moan, accompanied by a kind of frantic scrabbling effort to glue herself to Jasper, wrapping her arms and legs around her as tight as she could.   _Did she just - I think she just ground against me for a sec.  Our hips don’t line up right but oh my goodness.  Oh Pearl.  Oh, you sweet little…_ She cupped her hand under Pearl’s bottom and felt her squirm.

“Just - just slowly,” Pearl breathed.

“Oh, sorry.  Too much?”

“No, no, I mean - I just want the sweet parts to last.  Don’t you?”

“I’m not just flash, bang and over, though.”  She let Pearl settle back onto the mattress and lay beside her again, though now she rested on her hip and kept her upper body over Pearl’s.

“Oh, I didn’t think you were.  Not a big, strong beast like you.”  She ran her forefinger down the neckline of Jasper’s top, tucked just inside to skim over her skin until it reached the notch of the V.  “Are you sure you still want to wear this, Jasper?”

“Um - do you mean my diamond or my top?”

“Well, I won’t _mind_ if your top comes off, but I did mean the diamond.  It’s just so strange to still see it on you.”

“Peridot still wears hers.”

“True.  I suppose I haven’t noticed as much because she always seems to be wearing a shirt lately.  Well, and her chest isn’t so near my eye level.”

“Oh, so you’re just looking at my chest because it’s convenient?”

“Convenient and eye-catching.”

“Well, I’d wear a star for you.  I’ve never actually changed my clothes before.  I came out of the rock like this.”

“I remember you wearing a cape when you first arrived.”

“Oh, that.  I was showing off.  I mean, I thought I was going to see Rose Quartz.  I was all excited about it.  I actually - look, you’ll laugh, but I spent a _long_ time planning how I wanted to look for her.  I went through about ten different _styles_ of cape before I found the one I liked best.”

“What were you going for?  Terrifying yet sexy?”

“Intimidatingly fabulous.  Terrifying yet sexy would work too, though.  But like I said, I’ll wear a star for you.  I’ll wear anything you want me to.  We could match.”

“I’ll have to come up with a list of requests.  I’ll draw you pictures to work from!”

“And look.  Diamond coming off.”  She slid down the shoulder straps and pushed her top down around her waist.

“Oh,” Pearl said, very softly.  She traced her fingertips over Jasper’s bare chest, following the deep orange streak that ran from below her right breast to curl around her left.  “Oh, you’re beautiful.”

“Different from Rose, though, right?”

“Well, yes.  Smaller and firmer.  You don’t want to hear me making comparisons, though, do you?  Won’t it make you feel as if she’s between us?”

“If I could be with both of you - sorry, that’s a weird idea.”

“No, what were you going to say?”

“It’s…”  She bit her lip, trying to think.  “I don’t feel like she’s between us when you say things like that.  I feel like she’s with us?  A little bit?  And I’d _like_ that.  It’s not like she’s some kind of off-putting thought and… and it’s hard to explain.  But she’s part of you, right?  Loving Rose is part of you.  So of course she’s going to be with us, and you can tell me whatever you want about her.”

“So that _wouldn’t_ make you feel jealous?”

“No.  I mean, I don’t get why, but it doesn’t.”

“If Rose _had_ been here… I wonder what would have happened.”

“Well, I’d have fought her, but if there’s one person I wouldn’t mind beating me it’s her.  I actually - okay, I had a few fantasies about her pinning me down.  Ripping my clothes.  That type of thing.”

“I don’t think she’d rip your clothes unless you asked her to, but it’s a nice image.”

‘I was really _really_ ashamed of that, because I was imagining - I was wanting to be helpless.  That’s like wanting to _lose._  I’d tell myself this is so wrong, this is disgusting, you’re being a traitor, but I couldn’t stop, and I’d come so hard.  Not that I couldn’t get myself off thinking about normal stuff, but if I thought about Rose Quartz it was really fast and hard and, and I didn’t quite mean to tell you about that.  I never told _anyone_ about that.  I’m kind of surprised I haven’t been struck by lightning or anything.”

“Well, you’ve got me imagining it too, so maybe the lightning can’t decide which of us to hit.  Oh my.”

“So, now I’m done being really weird and horrible and embarrassing, I guess that’s another reason why it’s okay if you want to tell me about Rose.”

“You’re not weird or horrible, and I think we can endure a little embarrassment together.  Rose… had very soft, full, heavy breasts.  Her nipples were beautiful, such a deep, warm pink, and so large and plump, and so hard when I sucked them… do you want me to show you how I’d do that?”

“Yes?”  

“You don’t sound sure.  I won’t try to do anything you’re not sure about.”

“Like kissing, but on my chest?  That’s what you were talking about before, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Maybe just use your hands at first.  Would you touch her like that too?”

“Of course I would.”  

Pearl’s smooth, cool hand spread against her skin and squeezed the slight curve of her breast, really only a pad of pudge, she’d always thought, something she’d get teased about by leaner, older-model Jaspers, oh, but the teasing felt good, the squeezing and rubbing and pinching, getting called their little softie, and one hard strong body behind her holding her arms and another in front pressing in, shoving her thighs apart with one massive knee.  And now it was Pearl, and her hands were so small, but her fingers were so clever and quick and strong.  When she pinched it sent hot and cold shocks through her, and she made a pathetic little mewing sound before she could stop herself.

“Good?”

“Mm.  Oh… oh Pearl.”

“You’re shaking.  Tell me if you’re all right.”

“I’m all right.  I just… oh, it’s humiliating to be this wet and you’ve hardly even touched me.”  She could feel a hot liquid bloom between her legs, soaking through her pants and wetting her thighs.

“I can touch you more to justify it, then.  Do you like to be a little bit humiliated?”

“Little bit.”

“Good girl.  Come here and kiss me.”  It was a long deep kiss that left Jasper feeling dizzy and shuddery, and at the end of it Pearl bit her lip.  “Do you want that now?”

“Yes… yes…”  She had to shut her eyes because it was too much to actually _watch_ Pearl.  Hot little tongue flickering against her skin, soft lips nipping and sucking, _sucking,_ and she was mewling again and couldn’t stop.  Cool little hands trailed down over her midriff, making her shiver and flinch, and slipped inside her waistband to stroke her tummy as she rolled onto her back, carrying Pearl with her.  There was still a trace feeling that she should be ashamed to just lie here passively and be so lazy, but it was fading nicely compared with the growing desire to just be spoiled.  She hitched up her hips and spread her legs, and Pearl slipped down between her thighs with a startled little gasp.  Jasper sat up in a hurry.

“Sorry, I just - oh!”  Pearl smacked a kiss straight onto her mound, looking up at her with laughing eyes.  “There too, really?”

“Of course, if you want me to.”

“I do.  Yeah, I really do!  Oh…”  She sagged back onto her elbows, because it felt too strong and strange to be kissed just there and stay even half upright, and that was through her pants.  She couldn’t watch, and she had to watch, because Pearl’s eyes held hers so effortlessly.  “Are you - oh my stars you’re licking me.”   _I sound like Peridot.  Squeaky and everything._  Pearl sealed her lips to her and sucked, moaning down in her throat, her cheeks blooming blue and her eyes fluttering closed.  The way her eyebrows creased together looked so weirdly tender, and the hot wet pull at Jasper’s lips was making her hips twitch and shake with pleasure.   _If I come without her even taking my pants off I’ll never live it down.  Don’t be stupid, no one knows, no one cares, it’s not like a fight if you do it with a Pearl.  Not that you’re supposed to do it with a Pearl.  But no one knows._ “Can I take my pants off?” she asked, just so she could pretend she’d tried to keep some dignity.

“Mmm… no.”  She took a pinch of fabric between her thumb and forefinger and nipped into it with her teeth.  She must have had sharp little teeth to tear straight through, and then her forefinger hooked into the notch she’d made to rip straight down.   _Then_ her tongue darted in, and Jasper yelped in shock and joyful shame.  

“Oh yes - oh yes - oh Pearl please!”

“Mmm?”

“Go up and down there, up and down there, _yes.  Oh!_  Put your fingers, put your fingers in, _yes there,_ and - and on my clit, my, my, yes my clit there, _Pearl!”_  She’d found her voice again and she couldn’t shut up, and Pearl’s _hand_ was sliding inside her and finding places to rub that took her breath away, and her hot little mouth was sucking at her clitoris and sending liquid fire into her.  She had to grab fistfuls of the covers under her to keep from grabbing Pearl’s head, and there was no way to stop her hips bucking, and she’d never _crested_ this long without coming.  Her cries died into gasping, and she arched so hard she lifted her ass clear off the bed, straining upward as the shocks of heat and sweetness rolled in faster and harder until they reached a huge, perfect climactic shudder.

She dropped back on the bed, sprawled out and jellified.  Pearl was still stroking her, kissing her, sending squirm after squirm through her when she’d hardly thought she could feel more.  She needed it to stop before it burst her, but it would be such a thrill to burst.  The second time was deeper but softer, and Pearl soothed her down with steady hands and light kisses on her tummy and thighs.  It was a little while before she could get her act together to speak.

“I have _never_ been fucked like that in my _life.”_

Pearl laughed, a bubbling, fizzing burst, and Jasper lifted her head to see her with her face alight, her hair damp and dishevelled and her lips and chin slick with wetness.  She looked ridiculous and messy and completely beautiful.  She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and clambered up to kiss Jasper’s mouth, pressing their bodies close together, her legs spread to squeeze Jasper’s trunk between her skinny thighs, her hips rocking.  “Yes?” she whispered.

“Yes.”  Jasper clutched at her little bottom and kissed her joyfully; she passed her other hand between their bellies and pressed her fingertip hard between Pearl’s legs.  The rocking motion stuttered and Pearl began to screw her hips down and around, down and around.

“Oh Jasper - oh - oh darling -”  She pushed herself up with her arms, sitting astride Jasper’s midriff, gazing down at her and almost gloating.  “Do you want to say thank you, and make me very _very_ happy?”

“You know I do.”

_“Good_ girl.”  She wriggled out of her little yellow pants so quickly and neatly Jasper was just plain impressed and scrambled further up, planting her knees either side of Jasper’s head, pinning her down by her hair.  “Now touch me.”

Her fingers looked far too big stroking Pearl’s silky thighs, nudging against the sweet little mound like a split white peach.  The inner lips were soft blue and softer violet, only the slightest touch of colour peeping out until Jasper spread them apart.  She could tell she wasn’t getting more than her fingertip in there, and she licked it to help it slide in.  

“No no no,” Pearl said gently, “you lick _here.”_ She eased herself lower until her lips brushed Jasper’s and the sharp spicy smell of her filled her head.  “Easy.  Here.  Oh… oh, that’s lovely.   _Oh,_ that’s my girl.  Kiss, there.  There.  Now with the tip of your tongue, just your tippy-tongue, soft flutter, quick soft flutter.  Ahh… that’s just right, _just_ right.”  She combed her fingers into Jasper’s hair over her forehead and gripped tight.  “Good girl.  I’m going to sit down.  That’s it, suck my pussy.”  She gave a greedy little gasp and swivelled her hips, briefly crushing Jasper’s lips against her teeth.  “Oh, my precious Jasper!  Give me your tongue, slide it in.   _There._ Suck, rub, _yes.”_ She gave a little cry that ran up a scale and back down, and Jasper could feel her trembling.  “I - I’m not just being encouraging, you’re _good_ at this.”

It was inexpressibly wet and hot and messy, and her hair was getting pulled three ways hard, and she was half smothering and happy for it to go on all night.  She held Pearl’s thighs tight and worked frantically with her tongue, getting sharper cries and deeper grunts out of her until she was quivering uncontrollably, bouncing on her face until she fell limp, face down in the tangle of Jasper’s hair.  She rolled off after just a moment, spreadeagled on her back.  Jasper tugged her hair free and bundled her up in her arms for slightly incoherent, very sloppy kissing.  Pearl was gasping and laughing and trying to tell her half a dozen things and thinking of half a dozen more before she could finish any of them.  Jasper gathered she was happy.

Eventually she settled down enough to form a full sentence.  “That was so absolutely wonderful!  Were you enjoying it too?  Oh, I hope so!”

“You bet I was.  I never did anything like that before so I’m pretty impressed with myself right now!”

“And you looked adorable.”

“I did?”

“Completely perfectly totally darling and adorable.”  She squeezed Jasper’s cheeks and kissed her forehead.  “So flustered and eager to please.   _Such_ a good girl.”

“I’m not sure why I like you calling me that but I really do.”

“Well, Rose would call me her good girl when we did that so I’m glad it makes you as happy as it did me.”

“You had a full-size Quartz sitting on your face?  I think you’re indestructible.”

“Well, she was always very careful how she did it.  I don’t think she ever let her full weight down on me, and she always told me what she was going to do before she did it so I could be ready, or tell her if I needed her to wait or stop.  Is it strange that I sort of… played her part?  It just seemed to come naturally in the moment.”

“Did she talk the same way you did?  Tippy-tongue and precious Jasper and all of that?”

“Mmm, no, no, those were my own words.”

“I liked those.  How about ‘suck my pussy’?  That yours too?”

That got her all embarrassed and trying to hide her face, needing to be coaxed out and kissed some more.  “That was just a little bit crude.  You understand, the heat of the moment.”

“Worked for me.”  She tucked her fingers in between Pearl’s legs again, just cosily with the side of her forefinger brushing the puffy wet lips.  “It’s such a pretty little pussy.  Talk about different from my big sloppy cunt.”

“Jasper!  Don’t use such a horrible word for something so lovely.”

“Cunt’s not such a bad word, is it?  I mean, sure, it’s not a _polite_ word, but have you _seen_ it?”

“Yes, I had quite a good look and it’s so _beautiful_ with those thick lush lips and for goodness’ sake, Jasper, your clitoris is the size of my _thumb_ and do you have any _idea_ how _rampantly_ sexy that is?  No laughing, I’m being sincerely complimentary.”

“About my rampant clit?”  She couldn’t stop sniggering at that one, and Pearl drummed indignantly on her chest with her little fists until she felt bad and hugged her.  “Hey, I’m glad you like it.”

“You’re a _bit_ like Rose that way,” Pearl said, slightly muffled against her shoulder, “although your hair is thicker and wirier.”

“You don’t have any.”

“I’ve never met a Pearl who did.”

“I thought Rose was your one and only.”

“I’d lived quite a long time before I even met Rose, and you know how it is in those communal living situations, I’m sure.  It’s even encouraged for group bonding.  Early on I was assigned to a dance troupe, so I suppose it was _esprit de corps de ballet,_ as achieved via _furious_ mutual masturbation.”

“I love this.  You seem so dainty and prim and pure and you’re just as horny as I am.”

“Well, that just makes it sound _crass,”_  Pearl said, and kissed her shoulder.

“Fucking really doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

“Well, no more than kissing, I suppose.”

“I was so weirded out when I learned other species have got to do it to procreate, but then I thought, well, at least they’ve got some kind of practical reason.”

“I suppose it’s always possible that some distant evolutionary ancestor of Gems reproduced sexually and associated physical traits have remained.  Or that our ancestors were more like Rose than we realise and copied some things other life-forms were doing that looked like fun.  She ended up taking it so far that she created a complete reproductive system for herself, and that’s how Steven came to be.  But let’s change the subject, I don’t want to lose this good mood.”

“Okay, we could talk about my rampant clit some more.”

“That was a very poor choice of word,” Pearl said, although it was making her giggle by now.  “Don’t tease me, though, or I’ll be too shy to say some of the other ways I want to describe you.”

“No teasing, I promise.”

“Humph.  I’m not sure I believe you can keep that promise.”

“You know how I want to describe you?  Or what I want to call you?”

“What?”

“My princess.  My brave, amazing, unstoppable, glorious princess.”

“Oh, Jasper.”  Pearl’s face went so soft and her eyes got so teary Jasper was afraid she’d said something terrible.

“Princess is a good thing!” she said hastily.  “I mean, _I_ think it’s a good thing, I haven’t got that wrong, have I?  All the movies and shows make it seem like princess is a wonderful thing, like Leia and Serenity and Xena and -”

“Yes, yes, it’s a wonderful thing, and I can’t quite understand why you’d see me that way, but you’re so, so sweet if you do.”  A long, deep kiss, twining her hands into Jasper’s hair.  “And you’re my… oh, my tiger-lily, my sunflower, my burning star, my valiant girl, my big brave golden beast.”

“Wow, all of them?”

“All of them, and my darling too.”

“My darling, too.”  She kissed the top of Pearl’s head and rested there, her nose brushing the smooth, cool curve of her gem.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And then it was Amedot's turn, because however it may look given the Jaspearl focus this story has taken on, I love them to little squishy bits and pieces. This scene takes place after the mildly traumatic _Star Wars_ prequel viewing, and now I've got it out of my system I may be able to get back to the story proper.
> 
> I always feel like Amedot is a wonderful ship for taking all kinds of things that we may be insecure about in our bodies and our feelings, things that we may feel are too weird to admit to or too difficult to ask anyone to deal with or too, like, jiggly and saying HEY actually those things can be lovable and great.
> 
> A warning may be necessary that there's an element of masochism in some of what Amethyst likes, which I see as mostly coming from the fact that she's a seeker of extreme sensation in many ways.

“Another rewarding evening of emotional outbursts with the family,” Peridot said wearily, casting herself down in the beanbag chair that had been her favourite lately.

“We still needed a spontaneous Pearl song for a full bingo card, but yeah, that was fairly intense,” Amethyst agreed.

“I mean, I don’t _blame_ Jasper for having strong feelings about all that star war business.  It was bothering me too.  I’ll probably try to talk to her about it tomorrow.  The usual Homeworld guilt debrief.”  She sighed and scrunched her feet against the styrofoam beads.  “I wonder when the actual last one will be?”

“Beats me.  At least you care enough to feel guilty.  You know?  That doesn’t sound right.”  Amethyst stretched and yawned.  “I’m gonna take a nap.  You?”

“Mmm, no.  I’ll find something to tinker with, I think.”

“You feeling okay now?  Thunder-shakes worn off?”

“Yes.  I always feel safe in here, anyway.”

“Aww!”  Amethyst gave her an affectionate head-rub before curling up on the less lumpy end of the couch.  She felt sleepy but, for whatever reason, sleep didn’t seem to be happening.  She just lay there feeling pleasantly drowsy and calm while Peridot puttered around, spending some time sorting through a crate of interesting half-broken electronic crap before settling down with Steven’s old laptop which she had managed to bring back from the dead despite extensive soda-pop damage.  Such a smart little key lime pie, Amethyst thought fondly.  How Peridot got a wifi connection in here wasn’t too clear and she was prepared to chalk it up to general magic.

She always sat the same way, with the laptop on the floor in front of her, cross-legged and hunched over, typing and trackpadding with her two forefingers and looking grumpy because she was focused, even if she was actually having a good time.  And she always ended up doing that unconscious thing with her foot; when she sat cross-legged like that the heel of her left foot was pressed in between her legs and she would start to gently, rhythmically rock it.  There it was; she could see the yellow tip of her toe moving back and forth.

“Whatcha looking at?” she asked.

“Hmm?  Oh, just checking my fanfic subscriptions.  Weren’t you asleep?”

“Anything hot?”

“Nothing new, why?”

“Well, you know you’re rubbing your pussy, right?”

“Oh.”  Peridot looked down and blushed.  “No, I tend to start doing that without noticing.  Do you think that’s weird?”

“Nah.”

“I mean… I don’t even think I’m actually masturbating.  It’s just _comfortable.”_

“Like you’re petting the kitty?” Amethyst asked with an affectionate smile.

“Well, don’t say things like _that_ in your husky sleepy voice,” Peridot said, with a quick smile back.

“Hey, I do it too.  Like if I’m relaxing and I’m not even trying to get off, I just kind of pet it through my pants.”

“Really?  I’ve never noticed you do that.”

“Well, no.  A, I’ve got you to pet now, and two… actually, I didn’t even think about it, but two is ‘cause - well okay, when I was a kid, I started humping the furniture, round rocks, that kind of thing.  It wasn’t even a sex thing to me then, I’d just found out somehow it felt really good if I put a little pressure on my pussy.  Pearl was freaking out and Rose had to talk to me - and she was really great about it, she didn’t like tell me off.  She just said when I felt like doing that I should do it by myself in my room.  And I said why, is it bad?  Is that why Pearl was upset?  And she said no, it’s actually a really nice thing to do for yourself, it’s loving your body, but it’s a private thing and it makes other people uncomfortable to see private stuff in public or in spaces you share.  Rose could always explain things so I got it.  So I guess I really did just do it when I was _by myself_ in my room, even though I wouldn’t mind you seeing at all.  Huh!  That’s habits for ya.”  She glanced over.  Peridot’s foot was still moving, tick-tock, tick-tock.  “You’re so cute.”

“I _am_ the great and lovable Peridot.”

“You and your lil’ twitchy feet.”  Amethyst yawned long and deep and found that sleep was stealing over her now, a nice soft light doze.

She woke up after a while because she could hear little squeaky grunty noises which meant either a guinea pig was running around in here or Peridot _was_ masturbating now.  Yep.  It probably wasn’t best girlfriend practice to just watch her without saying she was awake again, but she was just so _cute._ She’d only seen this a couple of times, and it always got her how Peridot’s favourite position was on her tummy with her legs drawn up like a little frog and her butt bobbing in the air as she got more excited and rubbed harder - also through her pants, come to think of it.  She had her chin almost on the laptop keyboard, which didn’t look too comfortable but she probably didn’t care if she was frigging herself like that, or whimpering like _that._ Bobbing butt and shaky legs and whimpery heavy breathing all meant she was just on the edge of coming - and there she went, with her eyes scrunched shut and her hips shaking and twitching and her toes curling and splaying and no more actual noises, beyond a strangled, drawn-out “mmmmph!” because she was biting her lip so hard.

Then she was sagging down, panting, fingers still reflexively rubbing, and so wet that Amethyst could hear a very soft squishing sound.  After a little while she lay still, her breathing still deep and gusty but getting calmer.  If she was going to fall asleep like that she was going to be awfully stiff and sore when she woke up, so Amethyst’s duty was clear.  While it _would_ be funny to draw cat whiskers on Peridot’s face while she was out cold and drooling into the keyboard, it was a better move in the long run to wake her up and make sure she was comfortable.  She rolled off the couch, crawled over and gently jiggled Peridot’s shoulder.

“Peri… wake up, babe.”

“Mnah?  Wah!  Oh… uggghhhh, don’t wake me up like that.”

“What, you wanna wake up with QWERTY on your face?”  Amethyst tapped on the keyboard as Peridot peeled her cheek away from it.

“I suppose not.”  She sat up, pushing up her visor to rub her eyes.  “Thanks.  I just… you know.”  

“What, hitting the Percy/Pierre slash again?”

“Obi-Wan/Anakin this time, actually.  I - I just like that type of thing and anyway they had much better chemistry than Anakin and Padmé.  In fact Obi-Wan/Padmé would be vastly the superior pairing if you actually wanted to get things _done,_ but I just never get excited for m/f ships.  There are more than enough in canon already.  I’d rather they were best friends.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.  I’m always kind of impressed you can get off to just words.  I need pictures too.”

“Well, with just words I can imagine it _looking_ however I want.  I’m not stuck with how an artist or a director imagined it.  I can even do my own casting.”

“Hey Peri?”

“What?”

“You got a wet spot.”  She grinned and kissed her on the cheek.

“Blech, I know.  It feels so good until it feels soggy.”

“Warm it up for you?”  She cupped her hand gently between Peridot’s legs.

“Yes, please.  Though that does sound like you’re reheating leftovers.”

“Sloppy seconds is the name of the game.”

“Gross,” Peridot said, but she snickered and kissed Amethyst.

“We are gross, didn’t you know?  We’re gross pervs who live in a junkyard.  Last night you ate me out while I was eating nachos and watching wrestling, for crying out loud.  Embrace your grossness.”

“I embrace _your_ grossness.  It’s not surprising about _you,_ strong libido goes along with Quartz aggression and endurance, but I don’t know what happened to _me.”_

“Oh, did they not design you to be a horndog with a juicy little pussy?”  She was sliding her middle finger up and down between Peridot’s lips, enjoying that soft messy squish through the saturated fabric.  

“Nope.”

“And cute little gumdrop boobs?”  She slid one shoulder strap down with her free hand and gave Peridot’s breast a friendly squeeze.

“Obviously there were _some_ aesthetic considerations.”

“You want to wriggle out of this?”

“Yes, but I’m keeping my socks on.”

“Of course you are, they’re your sexy socks.”

“Okay, three-two-one go.”

They both whipped off their clothes as fast as they could.  This time Peridot beat Amethyst to naked - which was an improvement on her usual time - and pounced on her, rolling her over.  They ended up in a giggling, snorting tangle with Peridot on top.

“I win I win I win!  Praise me.”  She bounced up and down gleefully with her small breasts bobbing.

“You’re the fastest undresser in Beach City.  Go you!  Lemme just get my leg out of - ah, my pants are all tangled up.”

“Allow me to help with my superior skill and speed.”  Peridot scrambled round to face Amethyst’s feet and drag off the remaining leg of her pants, which couldn’t come off until her boot did.  Amethyst was just going to say something about her pointing her butt at her when she said, “And you can look at my butt while I do.”

“Okay, thanks.  It’s a good butt.  It’s perky.  Good cheek definition.  And you’ve got those two little dimples just above it, I’m all about your upper-butt dimples.”

“You’re free.  Praise me more.”  Peridot dropped boot and pants and scrambled back round to kiss her.  “Mmmmmwah!”

Amethyst grabbed her butt and gave it a good squeeze.  “You’re the bestest Peridot ever.  No one takes pants off like you.”

“Good.  But let’s get into bed or at least on the couch, because my knees are already a little sore.”

“You got it.  Hop up.”  Amethyst slapped the seat of the couch and Peridot clambered up, bending low to kiss Amethyst as she knelt in front of her.  “Okay, cutie, taking requests because you showed me such a good time last night.”  She blew a raspberry on Peridot’s belly, provoking an outburst of extremely goofy giggling.  “Whaddaya want and where do you want it?”

“Oooh.  Okay, kisses on my neck, lots of kisses on my neck!  Just like that.”  She gurgled and squirmed in delight as Amethyst began.

“I love your sex noises, they’re the weirdest.”

“Ooh!  Give me a hickey, and I can wear a bandanna round my neck to not-very-effectively hide it like Sue in episode eighteen.”

“Mmmrrrrmmm.  Mweh.  There.  Nice big one.”

“Well, that hurt a little bit so kiss it better.”

“Aww.  Mwah.”

“Mmm, no, lick it better.  Ooh, yes, keep going.  All over, yes.  Ooooooooh I _love_ your tongue.  And - and here, suck here.”  She tapped urgently where her neck joined her shoulder and shuddered blissfully under Amethyst’s lips.  “And - and here.”  She pulled Amethyst’s hand between her legs.  

“Inside, outside?”  She brushed her fingers over the messy little tuft that was about all Peri had for hair.

“Inside, please.  Ooh, yes, please.  Can you do that thing where, you know, where you - yes that!  Rub that place there!”

“That’s your G-spot, dummy.”

“Well, that’s a dumb name for it.”

“Says P-dot, queen of the dumb names for things.  You like getting ‘touch-stumped’?”  She made air quotes somewhere Peridot could feel it.

“I don’t care if you think my anatomical nomenclature is funny, because you’re _doing_ it.  Can - can you make your finger about two centimetres longer?  I really want it a little further back - eeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”  She was quivering and pushing her hips up to Amethyst’s hand.

“Now I wanna see if I can get you squirting again.  That was _great.”_

“That was embaaaaarrassing.”

“Come on, you dug it.  You’re diggin’ it now.  Squish, squish.  Greedy drooly pussy.”

“Yes but - yes but - oh, maybe, maybe if that’s what we’re shooting for I should sit on a towel.”

“What, because squirting on it once is okay but squirting on it twice would be trashy?  I’ve had this couch twenty years, it’s seen some shit.  Well, not actual shit.  That’s not my personal kind of gross.”

“You know I think you have the sexiest voice in the world but _please_ stop talking.”

“No problem, wanted to suck your boobs anyway.”

“Yes _please.”_

“Gumdro-o-ops,” Amethyst half-sang.  She swiped her tongue softly across Peridot’s nipple before sucking it in, feeling it thicken, hearing Peridot give a whimper that turned into a moan that scaled into a whinny while she ground into her steadily rocking hand.  That sound sent a sweet hot surge right down into her own pussy, and she wished she had something to hump on, but right now it was good-girlfriend time, and good girlfriends got girlfriends off before thinking of themselves, right?  Peridot looked up to her supposed experience so much she never quite wanted to mention that she knew a ton about hooking up at concerts and clubs and having friends with benefits, and maybe half a pound about having a steady, all based on Peri.  Sweet dorky jerky squirmy Peri who was _squeaking_ with pleasure and drumming her heels and telling her in the bossiest way possible to switch tits and even her up.  She obliged and gave her the upward puppy-dog eyes to go with it.

“Oh Ame - Ame - here - _here - ah!”_ Peridot’s voice cracked in bliss, and her hips kicked hard, and hot wet spat up to the inside of Amethyst’s elbow.

_“Damn,_ girl.  That wasn’t a squirt, that was a _gush._  Whoa, whoa, don’t fall over, you’re okay, you’re good.”  Peridot had gone completely floppy on her, making little breathless gurgles; she pushed her back onto the couch and crawled up beside her, cradling her in one arm.

“Oh… oh Amethyst, I love you.”  She let her head flop back on Amethyst’s shoulder and gazed up at her starry-eyed.

“Love you too.”

“Oh, I feel like I’m made of _goo.”_  

“My ooey-gooey girl.”  For several long, quiet, warm minutes they stayed curled up together.

“Everything feels so _nice.”_  Peridot scrunched up, tucking her arms and legs right into her body, then stretched out, splaying her fingers and toes like a starburst.   _“So_ nice.”

“I nearly rocked one of your socks off.”

“Oh yeah.”  She hitched it back up absent-mindedly.

“I never understand how they join on to your little… leotard or whatever.”

‘They just do when I want them to, and they don’t when I don’t.”

“You know what’d look so cute on you?  Little garter belt to hold ‘em up.”

“I’m not sure that’s my style.  Aren’t they sort of frilly?”

“No, I’ve got this awesome one, it’s heavy duty black elastic for hockey players.  Oh.  But it fits me, so it’s not gonna fit your li’l bitty waist.  We’d have to practically fold it in half and do it up with a safety-pin.”

“Hm.  Can I see _you_ wear it?”

“Yeah, when I find it.  It’s _somewhere._  Does elastic rot?  I think maybe elastic rots.  This idea may suck.”

Peridot swung her leg over Amethyst’s to sit astride her lap and hug her tight.  “I really love you.  Every time I think it and say it, it sounds so funny and so nice.  I love you.  I love _you!_   _I_ love you!  Isn’t that weird?  Isn’t that just astronomically improbable, that we would meet each other at all and then end up _loving_ each other?  You and me?  I’m babbling.  I’m euphorically babbling.  I’m astronomically improbably euphorically babbling!  Because I love you.”  

“I love you back, motormouth.”  But that sounded more sarcastic than she wanted, so she tried again.  “I mean I love you too.”

“I know you do.  Isn’t that wonderful?”  Peridot kissed her, long and sweet and deep.  “Do you think it would change anyone’s minds back at Home if they could know about us?’

“What, like… come to Earth, get laid?”

“Or come to Earth, fall in love.”

“Weeeell, that might not be such a good slogan, ‘cause there aren’t a whole lot of Crystal Gems to go round.  You and Jasper pretty much broke the bank.  That leaves Garnet, and she’s not looking, and, well, Steven, but he’s super underage and anyway I think Connie has dibs.”

“All right, it’s not a practical plan.  I know I need to come up with one of those.  I just felt - whimsical.  Which is just another mark of my remarkable personal growth.”

“You know it is.  Praise kiss.”  She smooched Peridot’s pointy nose.

“But I will, Amethyst, I promise I will.  I’ll keep thinking, and working, and I’ll think of something to keep us all safe.  For - for peace and love on the planet Earth,” she said, so earnestly it made Amethyst’s eyes prickle as if she might tear up, and _that_ was weird.

“You don’t have to do that.  Not all by yourself, come on.”

“But - but if I can - I can’t fight, I can’t possibly, I need to do _something._ I can’t be useless.  You’re - you’re so important, _you’re_ love on the planet Earth.  I can’t let anything happen to you.  I’m so frightened all the time, _all_ the time, because I know what Yellow Diamond can do.”

“All the time?” Amethyst asked, dismayed.

“But you make me feel better.  Safer.  Hopeful!  It’s not impossible, it’s not, because if I could do everything I’ve done, I could do _anything!”_

“Are you really afraid all the time?”

“I’ve always been a _bit_ afraid all the time,” Peridot said with half a laugh.  “It’s a feature, not a bug.  It’s motivation.”

“They made you to be _afraid?”_

“Afraid of failure.  I mean, obviously.  You have to be afraid of something, don’t you?  Well, _you_ don’t, equally obviously.”  She snorted and rolled her eyes.  “But I think maybe love is even better motivation than fear, and I think - no, I’m sure.  I _know_ that - that there was the one I was made for and there’s the one I’ve chosen and I think I can do so much more for _her,_ I mean, for you.”

“Wait, wait,” Amethyst said.  She put her finger across Peridot’s lips, hoping it didn’t shake.  “The way you’re talking right now, I - I know this is all from love, okay, I know - but it’s spooking me, because you’re talking about me the kind of way Pearl would talk about Rose.  I wasn’t there for the war, but I know some things that happened, and I know Pearl pushed herself way too far because she loved Rose so much.  She nearly wrecked herself, and she _still_ sometimes nearly wrecks herself and I don’t want that for you.  You have to promise.  Remember you’re just as important as I am.  And remember I need you to be okay.”

“Okay,” Peridot said, looking confused.  “I really don’t think I’m anything like Pearl, but I promise to remember.  I mean, I _am_ important.”

“Good.”  Amethyst grinned in relief.  “That was a really heavy conversation to have naked and sitting with my ass in your wet spot.”  

“The wet spot is completely your fault.  Likewise your fault if this couch smells like a vagina for the rest of time,” she added in a snide undertone.

“Aw, we can put some baking soda on it.  Or burn it or something.”

“Well, we can figure it out in the morning.  See if it _does_ smell when it’s dry.”

“Some people would consider a couch that smells like pussy kind of an asset.  You know.  Setting the mood.”

Peridot snickered.  “Gross.  Just gross.  Come on, we have Jasper over here, I would just - I would feel strange about her being able to smell that.”

“One, can Jasper even smell?  Her nose is, like, solid.  It is _not_ a sense sponge.”

“No, she definitely can.  I’m not sure what she smells _with,_ but she smells.”

“Lol, Jasper smells.  And two, she’s not going to spend as much time here now she and Pearl are all hot’n’heavy.  It’ll probably have time to fade out.  Or just merge with the general aroma in here.  Slightly funky, slightly skunky, but overall kind of mellow and cosy.  So don’t stress.”

“All right.  But let’s go to bed.  Give it a chance to air out.”

“Sleep bed or screw around some more bed?”

“Catch me to find out.”  Peridot sprang up and scrambled away, tripping over an empty pop can as she went and skittering on her hands and feet for a moment before getting back to bipedal.  She dived for the pillow-and-blanket nest just as Amethyst caught up and tackled her, and they crashed into it face down with a little shriek and a cackle of laughter.  Peridot wriggled like a ferret and giggled like a loon and Amethyst pretty much only kept on top of her by being twice her weight and unscrupulous about tickling.  Peridot was even less scrupulous, and bit the soft part of her hand under her thumb.

“Yow!”

“Nyahaha!”  Peridot rolled her and bounced on her.

“Oh, you little shit!” Amethyst exclaimed, half pissed and half delighted that she _was_ such an audacious little shit, for someone who claimed to be scared all the time.

“Don’t be a wimp, I only nipped you.  Didn’t even leave a mark.  Okay, a little mark here, and here, just indentations.”

“Kiss them better, then.  I kissed your hickey better.”  Amethyst stuck out her lower lip and pouted.

“Okay.  I guess they’re both love-bites.”

“I mean, there’s biting the hand that feeds you, and then there’s biting the hand that jacked you off, and I dunno which is worse.”

“Excuse you, this is your other hand.”

“Keep kissing it.  Feels nice.”

“Mm-hm.”  Peridot dabbed little warm kisses over her palm and up and down her fingers, pausing to nibble very gently at the tips.

“You be careful now, I need those for stuff.”

“Mmm.”  She began nuzzling over Amethyst’s wrist and up her inner arm to flick her tongue back and forth over the crease inside her elbow.

“Also nice, really nice.”

“You’re confirming my hypothesis that soft hidden foldy places are always the best places to kiss you.”

“Actually kinda like it when you do science on me.  You know, perv science.  You could wear a lab coat.”

“That _would_ be my style!  Let’s get one.”  She flopped down to kiss Amethyst’s mouth, combing her fingers into her hair.  Amethyst wrapped her arms around her tight with a contented little groan that deepened when she realised she was getting her ears nibbled too, and soft sneaky little hands were sliding down to massage her breasts.  

“Pinch me,” she breathed.  

“Here?”

“Yes.   _Uh.”_ She bit her lip and subsided with a sigh.  

“Is my score going up?”

Amethyst gave a lazy, affectionate chuckle.  The first time they’d had sex - which had been awkward but pretty damn satisfying - Peri had got all squirrelly afterwards and she’d been worried she was regretting it or feeling icky somehow.  When she’d asked if she was okay, she’d got an anxious barrage of questions about her performance and approximate skill level, and the only thing that seemed to make her feel better was to create a ten-point scale from “basic” to “best ever” (they decided actual _bad_ sex belonged in the negative figures) and give her a score.  She was asking about it less often these days, which was good because Amethyst had trouble remembering what she’d said last time or how she’d justified it (Peridot had to know reasons), but she still sometimes seemed to want a little validation in points form.

“You are such a grade-grub.”

“I’ll give you points too, though!  On the couch was a solid eight point five.”

“Not nine?  That looked like a nine to me.”

“I think if I give you a nine too easily it’ll demotivate you.”

“The _points_ don’t motivate me, it’s seeing you come your brains out and knowing that was me.”

“I just… like things _quantified.”_  She smoothed her hand down over Amethyst’s tummy and brushed her fingertips through the edge of her pubic hair.  “I mean, if you can tell me I gave you an eight point _five_ orgasm, I definitely feel prouder than if it was just an eight.”

“But if I go up to nine that’s demotivating?”

“Hmmm… maybe if I know I _deserved_ a nine.”  She traced her fingers down the fold of Amethyst’s groin and ticklishly along the inner curve of her thigh.  “I’m very alert to grade inflation.”

“Well, you’re not getting a nine just tickling me.  Gimme a good grope.”

“I’m so glad you’re squishy.  I’m so glad I got to find out I _like_ squishy!”

“Well _that’s_ better, that’s like you’re kneading bread.”

“I should try to make my hands bigger.  You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“Believe me, you do fine with what you’ve got.”  She caught her breath, hitching up her knees.  “Holy _crap_ that’s good.  Now’s a good time to nibble.”  

“Nibble where?  I need you to be specific, because if I nibble the wrong thing you’re _not_ going to be happy.”

She slapped the inside of her thighs.  

“ _That’s_ a noise that’ll echo in my head.”  

“Hope so.   _Oh_ yeah.  Just - oh…”  Peridot’s sharp little teeth were nipping at her skin and sending shivers right into the middle of her, little hot shocks of nearly-pain followed by juicy blooms of warmth.  She licked her fingers and started stroking across the hood of her clitoris, a nice brisk strum to get her thrumming.  The nips were developing into what they’d nicknamed “shark hickeys,” something between sucking and chewing a mouthful of soft flesh until it was bruised indigo and she was whimpering and twitching and the point where the pain _stopped,_ where Peridot released her, came with such a euphoric rush that her head spun.  Then the gentle licking that soothed and rasped at the same time, and then the _next_ mouthful, and _then_ the thought of how sore she’d be tomorrow and the looks they’d exchange and the dirty furtive giggles that would bubble out of Peridot when she saw her wince when she sat down, and she was panting and squeaking and freaking _guffawing_ all together, out of breath and weepy-eyed.

“Okay okay okay, no more sharkydot, I’m gonna pee or something.”

“Oh, you are not.”  Peridot kissed her quivering belly and rested her pointy chin there, making a dent.

“Could if I wanted.  Really want you to fuck me, though.”

“Oh!  Do I get to wear the thingy again?”  Peridot’s face lit up.

“ _You_ call it a thingy?”

“Dildo is such a weird word.  i just don’t like it.  And all the brand names are so _coy_ and… _smirky.  Feeldoe._  Blech.  I can call it a thingy if I want to.  Anyway.”  She leaned across Amethyst’s body and dug between the pillows.  “Here is my favourite thingy, because A, it feels nice for both of us at the same time, B, it doesn’t require confusing straps and C, I think it looks cute on me.  Don’t you?”

“Cutest pretend dick ever, no contest.”

“Help me get it in?”

The first couple of times they’d tried had ended in frustration, because frankly she was kind of impractically tight, and the next couple had gone far better but resulted in a sore, grumpy Peridot who needed to be kissed better, but whether it was comfort or familiarity or just better knowledge of the angles, it was getting a lot easier.  Also, Peri all puffed up proud of herself for getting something bigger than a finger worked right into her pussy was pretty adorable.  Tonight in particular she was still so wet there were a couple of minor skidding incidents before they got it lined up just right and rocking inward a little at a time.

“Who wrote that smut you were reading?  I feel like I owe them a thank-you note.  You’re _extra_ gishy.”

“It was - it was - ohmy - oh - _oh,_ there it goes.”

“I like how once we get the thickest part through you just kind of suck it in.”

“It’d be easier if I was all soft and deep and open like you, but I like that part too.”

“Wanna fuck me?”

“Oh, yes _please.”_  

“C’mon.  C’mon in, make me scream.”

“You don’t scream, you cackle.”

“Oh yesyesyes.”

“Think you _hooted_ once.”

“Hoo!”  She wrapped her arms and legs round Peridot and ground up against her, feeling her hips stutter.  She rallied and thrust back, grunting, digging her knees and toes into the pillows and grabbing Amethyst’s soft hips, fingers sinking in.  

“Good?”

_“Ffffffffff…”_  She rocked her head back, closing her eyes in fierce delight.

“I love your face.  I love your whole _you_ but I _love_ your face.”  Peridot was panting against her neck, her breath hot and wet, and their bodies were slapping together, and the deepest sweetest burn was growing and building inside her.  It wasn’t so much that it came to a peak as that it grew until it was all she could feel.  Then she was shuddering and gasping and crying out as if the ceiling needed to know all about it, and _then_ she was pretty much just a blob of happy/hot/wet/weak love with twitchy hips and a precious little trembly sweaty Peridot melted onto her.

She faded out and fell asleep like that, and half-woke when Peridot was easing the dildo out of her and pulling up the blankets to tuck them both in.  She nuzzled in and mumbled sleepy kisses over her face, and drifted back to dreams with Peridot’s leg over her hip and their hands twined together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO THIS IS HAPPENING AGAIN. I don't know if I'll be writing more of Two-Step (though I'm leaning more towards "I might" now than my previous position of "I can't") but evidently I wanted to write more smut for these characters. More will follow pretty soon. Unless I fall down a hole.

Lapis had asked Pearl for some time alone to absorb everything, which Pearl had very kindly given her, and she felt pretty shabby about the fact that in practical terms “absorb everything” meant “get in the bath and masturbate feverishly.”  She was too wound up not to have some kind of relief, but it would feel much too rushed to dive in with Pearl tonight.  The water in the warm pool was always so particularly soothing, and it floated her softly as she drifted afterwards, feeling those strange little fading twitches inside.  She still couldn’t relax.

_ I want them both now, and it is 110% Blue Opal’s fault.  If it were physically possible for me to meet her I would… I would say something sharp that I’d regret, I suppose.   _ She really did feel cheated.  It would have been so nice and felt so fitting to just enjoy every little thing about Pearl and have a kind of lingering honeymoon period, and now all the ways she wanted to enjoy Pearl were getting overshadowed by the things she kept thinking about Jasper being with them.

_ That isn’t even really Blue’s fault.  I’ll move her down to… 70%, it’s still more her fault than mine.  I’d already had that stupid dream. _  They hadn’t been under the sea, they’d been somewhere warm and soft and dark, she and Pearl wound up in each other’s arms, and Jasper had been a big hot heavy presence folded over them, her gusty breath licking at their necks and breasts while she crammed her fingers inside them.  They’d held each other so they wouldn’t crack as they came.  It had been so intense that her pussy had actually ached when she woke up; completely unfair for a beginner’s dream.  At least she’d had far more orgasms than that for Pearl, while fully awake, even if Pearl didn’t know about them yet because they had been so surreptitious.  That was something she could tell her, surely, something to make her feel special and desired, nothing to do with using her and working on her… preying on her, really.

_ I’m not doing it like that any more, _ she told herself sternly.   _ And I won’t do anything like it again.  I don’t deserve how this is turning out, I don’t deserve it at  _ all _ on past behaviour, so I’ll just have to try to… earn it backwards, I suppose.  And I need her.  And I don’t want to think about that, can’t I just think about how good it felt kissing her today?  How she wanted me and pressed up to me and ran her hands over me and pushed her thigh between mine at one point before I think she remembered I just wanted to start slow, and eased off?  And her mouth feels  _ so _ weird and  _ so _ good.  Sweet soft lips and wet hot tongue.  Oh my stars, imagine how wet her pussy must get.   _

She slipped her fingers between her legs again, parting and stroking her soft folds, pretending they were Pearl’s fingers on her or hers on Pearl, maybe both together.   _ Imagine if we could lie in Jasper’s lap and do it just like that.  She could watch and touch herself.  I’ve never seen but I’ve heard Quartzes have huge lush pussies with thick pouty lips and a clit the size of - of your nose.  Oh, and Pearl, I know what she’ll be like, so soft and snug and all tucked in till you start exploring, just a tiny little bud of a clit but it’s so sensitive you have to be extra gentle, too rough or quick and she’ll just cry, get it right and she’ll come  _ until _ she cries.  I want to fuck her with water, I want to make it churn inside both of us, I want to kiss her while I do it, feel her tummy pressed up to mine so full so hard roll together surge together fuck together oh  _ fuck… oh…  _ oh, that was quick.   _ It had been fierce and dazzling and left her pulsing, just needing more.

She rolled over and rested one arm on the rim of the pool, her chin on her arm, thrust out her bottom and spread her legs and let the water flow in, drawing it to fill her and stretch her till her free hand, stroking her soft lower tummy, could feel unmistakable pressure and grind hard on the sweet spot in the front wall of her cunny, and then while that thick wet coil swirled and shoved inside she rubbed at her clitoris frantically.   _ Yes, fuck me, yes, fuck me!  Pearl, Jasper, fuck me together, hold me down and - and - oh yes…   _ She rode surge after surge, her mind blank with pleasure, until the wave broke thunderously and left her limp and mewling feebly, a deep receding throb inside her and everything else fizzing away into an airy lightness.

After a while she dragged herself up onto the side of the pool, resting on her elbows while her lower body trailed in the water, then heaved up the rest of the way and rolled to lie on her back, feeling little gushes and trickles escape from between her overly tender lips.   _ I’ve got problems, I really have, _ she thought.   _ That was entirely weird and overdone.  I suppose I feel good, but also kind of gross, lying here with my legs sprawled out  _ leaking.   _ I should probably  _ not _ let Pearl see me like this.  Or describe my dream to either of them, because what if it’s just too far and they’re both… they still  _ want _ to like me but I’ve repelled them?  I mean, I need to go slowly and try a bit at a time so  _ they _ don’t find out all at once how weird and disgusting I get. _

_ She, not they.  I’m just dealing with Pearl, for goodness’ sake. _

She got up, reformed her clothes, tidied her hair, tried to feel like a nice person, however they felt.  Overdoing it had put her into a worse funk than when she slipped into the pool.  Of course, this was exactly the sort of thing sleep was supposed to be good for; Peridot had told her it could be like a reset button for your mind, if not an entirely reliable one.

_ I don’t want to sleep, I want to find Pearl and be comforted.  I wonder where she is?  Probably with Jasper. _

 

She’d given it time; days, even.  She’d tried to put it all in perspective.  On her own, she was stuck.  Lapis took a deep breath, let it out gradually, and before she could change her mind knocked on the heavy oak door.

“Yeah?”  Jasper’s voice was faint behind the thick wood, and obscured by music.

“It’s Lapis.  May I come in?”

“Oh, yeah.  Hang on.”  After a moment the door rumbled aside; Jasper was standing there holding back the curtain on the inside.  She’d done something overly complicated with her hair again; it was hanging over her shoulder in a thick herringbone braid with a chocolate-brown ribbon tied at the end.  Lapis walked in under her arm, brushing the dangling ribbon aside.

“Thank you.”  She looked around, sizing up the room before she decided where she wanted to be in it.  The two big mattresses that sometimes served as a bed were stacked against the wall to form a couch.  From the rumpled state of it she thought Jasper must have been sprawling on it reading the book that lay open at one end, a bookmark stuck in on edge.  That was one thing Pearl had in common with Jasper but not with her; they honestly liked Earth literature, even if Pearl’s taste tended more towards romantic, chivalrous verse epics dedicated to queens and princesses and Jasper liked small paperbacks with creepy pictures of children turning into animals on the covers.  This book looked stouter than they usually were, so maybe she had branched out.  The amber fairy lights were on and a plasticky little boom box that must have been salvaged from Amethyst’s room was playing a song she didn’t know.

“What’s that?” she asked, nodding towards the boom box.

“Oh, Adele,” said Jasper, unhelpfully, closing the door.  “She’s a singer,” she added, not helping much more, and turning the music off as if it embarrassed her a little.  “I liked some of her stuff Greg lent me so I’m listening to more of it.  Do you want to sit down or anything?”

“Yes.  Thanks.”  Lapis perched at the other end of the mattress couch from the book.  When Jasper sat down beside her, the whole thing dipped and Lapis almost fell into her lap, catching herself only with a struggle for dignity.

“You don’t usually come down here,” Jasper pointed out.

“You did say I could.”

“I know, but you haven’t much.  Can’t a girl wonder?”

“Well,” Lapis said, twisting a strand of her hair round one finger, “you also said that we’re talking-about-Pearl friends, and I really need to talk about Pearl.”

“Oh, okay,” Jasper said, brightening a little.  “Good stuff, I hope?”

“It’s me, so no, weird stuff.  Is it okay to - what’s that horrible expression of Amethyst’s?  Spill my guts?”

“Go for it, I’m not busy.  Didn’t have work today and Pearl’s up at the arena training Steven and Connie, so I’m at a loose end.”  Jasper leaned back against the cushions.  She had an enviable gift for looking comfortable, Lapis thought.  “Spill your weird guts.”

“Thanks.  I do appreciate it, I’m just a little on edge.”

“I hope you didn’t have a fight.”

“No, nothing like that.”  She linked her hands around her knees.

“That’s good.  But you’re so fidgety I know something’s eating you.”

“It’s embarrassing.”

“Okay.”  Jasper shrugged one shoulder, still looking at her expectantly.

“All right, I’ve given you all the chances I can to bail out.  It’s a sex problem.”

“Really?  I’m kind of surprised, because Pearl’s amazing -”

“Yes, I’m sure she is, but I wouldn’t know because I’m too scared to get that far.  Now you think I’m crazy.”

“It’s not as if I  _ get _ it.  You want to explain that a little bit more?  I remember you saying a lot of stuff about wanting to have a close relationship without sex.”

“Not exactly.  I was proud of the fact that I’d managed to  _ build _ a close relationship without  _ using _ sex.   _ Then _ I didn’t think we should have sex because it seemed as if it would undermine that.   _ Now _ I want it so much I don’t know what to do with myself, because as you may have noticed, Pearl’s gorgeous and  _ really _ keen, but I’m terrified because I  _ do _ want it so much and it  _ wouldn’t _ be just… using something to get close to her, it wouldn’t be a means to an end, it’d be  _ the _ end, the  _ thing _ itself.  I don’t know how to cope with that any more, it’s been thousands of years, it had  _ been _ thousands of years even before I got stuck in that mirror.”

Jasper really stank at hiding her thoughts; Lapis could see them flickering and shuffling around behind her eyes.  They weren’t unintelligent thoughts, though; she was starting to think that Jasper could be a help to her because the whole way she was geared to think was to overcome obstacles, while her own mind tended to erect new thickets of them all the time.

“Okay,” she said slowly.  “So, breaking it down a little bit more, what are you most scared is going to happen?  Worst-case scenario.”

“I’ll mess everything up and Pearl will want nothing more to do with me and I’ll be lonely and miserable on a dismal little planet for the rest of my life.”

“How are you going to mess everything up?  I mean, there are a  _ lot _ of ways to mess sex up, help me narrow it down.”

“I’ll be disappointing and not what she wants.  I don’t  _ know _ what she wants, what if it’s totally different from what I’m expecting?  Who knows what she’s picked up here.”  That was a sidetrack; she hadn’t really meant disappointing but disgusting.

“Oh look, no, I was worried about that too and it’s  _ not _ that weird.”

“I’m an idiot,” Lapis said, half-turning to face Jasper.   _ “You _ can tell me.  What do you two do?  It must be perfect because she’s crazy about you.”

Jasper looked startled.  “I would feel weird talking about it behind her back.  It’d be better for you to ask  _ her.” _

“Jasper.  I can’t.  That’s the point. _  Please _ help me.”  She used her most beseeching expression, which was not playing fair but she was getting desperate.

Jasper fidgeted, shifting her bottom in her seat.  “If I’m going to tell you, you have to promise you’re not going to talk about it with anyone else and you’re not going to make fun of me.”

“Why would I make fun of you?  What the hell are you into?”

“That right there is what I don’t want you to do,” Jasper said, pointing at her face.

“All right, sorry.  Just - making light, I suppose.  I’ll try to sit on that.”

“Okay.”  More fidgeting and shifting around, and apparently she’d developed an acute itch at the back of her neck.  “And anyway, what we do together might not work for you two because of the size difference.”

“At least it’s a starting point.  Thank you, Jasper, thank you-thank you-thank you.”

“I guess most of what we do is fairly normal stuff?  A lot of kissing and all-over touching and rubbing and stroking and - well, anywhere you can touch you can lick or kiss or suck, right?  You’re getting an idea of how she is with kissing, right?”

“Yes.  She’s kissed my neck and my hands, before I got all overwhelmed and needed to stop.”

“Okay.  So.”  Jasper seemed to be trying to square up to the problem; her face was so flushed that the darker stripes were blending in but she straightened her shoulders and pressed on.  “Pearl wants to be kissed, and she wants to be licked all over.  That’s easier for me to do than it would be for you, I do have kind of a big tongue.  She - she wants you to lick her nipples, and then suck them, and then when they’re really swollen and sensitive, nibble them till they  _ almost _ hurt.  And um.  To lick her pussy and work her clit with your tongue until she comes,” she finished off in a rapid mumble.

“Oh.”

“And once isn’t enough, you’re in there for a whole long session, like your jaw’s going to hurt afterward but it’s  _ so _ worth it.  My personal best was four times and we were  _ both _ sore after that.  It doesn’t always need to be oral, though, I finger her too all the time.”

“Really?  You?”  Lapis couldn’t help glancing at Jasper’s huge hand nearest her.  Her middle finger was as thick as her own wrist.  It made her pussy tighten up just thinking about it; not unpleasantly so.

“I didn’t think it it’d work either, but when she was teaching me how to go down on her I kept thinking, when I put my tongue inside her to fuck her, seriously, it’s not small and I could push it right in, and I asked her about fingers and she said of course, she’d just been focusing on what I needed to learn instead of what she was sure I already knew, and - and um.  Yeah, that works really well too, once she’s ready for it.  For me, I mean, obviously you’ll do it a little different - it’ll be easier for you to rub her clit and do the delicate stuff, I’m sure.  This is really embarrassing, is it helping you at all?”

“It really is.  So she teaches you?”

“There’s a really good reason why I told you to ask her to teach you kissing, she  _ loves _ that kind of - did you do it, seriously?”

“Yes!  Steam came out of her ears.”

“She just - she coaxes me along and she praises me and tells me how good I’m making her feel and - yes.  And she does all of that kind of stuff back to me, she’ll spend ages working me over and finding the best places and the best way to - only obviously one of her fingers would hardly touch the sides so she’ll slide her whole hand in.  That’s - that’s kind of our normal, um, sex deal.  As far as normal goes when you’re a Jasper and a Pearl, which is obviously not far.”  She cleared her throat.  Lapis had the strong feeling that she hadn’t quite finished.

“Do you have other things that are less… normal?”

“Okay, so once in a while we’ll have a blowout,” Jasper said quickly, as if she’d been longing to tell someone this.  “Which means we dress up for it, there’s, um, there’s a roleplay thing, um, the main thing is Pearl dominates me.”  Her gruff voice became a squeak on the last words.

_ “Pearl _ dominates  _ you?” _

“Yes, okay, I know it’s weird.”

“It’s just that’s the complete opposite of how I would have imagined it.  Like - I’d have thought it’d be you kind of ravishing her.”  She had a strikingly clear mental image of Jasper on top of Pearl, gripping her wrists together over her head while her other hand pumped between Pearl’s smooth pale thighs and she arched in ecstasy.

“Sometimes I do, it all depends how we’re both feeling.”  Jasper became ostensibly extremely interested in adjusting her hair ribbon so that the ends and loops of the bow were exactly the same length.  She was actually sweaty with embarrassment; Lapis could see the damp hair curling at her temples and sticking to the side of her neck.

“What kind of roleplay thing?  I mean, what roles do you play?”

“I’m her pet.”

“Is this a dog thing?” Lapis asked, wondering if she had just formally stopped enjoying herself.

“No, we started before I knew anything about dogs, it’s just - I mean I’m not supposed to be any specific kind of animal, I’m a pet  _ Jasper. _  And you know, she’s dressed and I’m naked or at least not wearing much, and she ties a ribbon round my neck and she kind of spoils me and makes a fuss of me but it’s in this way where she has this power over me.  I’m doing a  _ really _ bad job explaining why it’s hot.  Like I belong to her and I’ll do anything for her and she takes such good care of me and I love her so much… and she teases me about how I get because I’m such a sloppy mess when I’m horny.”

“Oh, like?”  Just a little prompt to keep her going, not too much or she’d get self-conscious, Lapis thought.  She tucked her feet up on the edge of the seat and rested her cheek on her knees, watching Jasper’s face.

“You know, heavy breathing, dripping wet, I get kind of needy and whimpery.  She has to tie my hands to stop me frigging myself while I’m going down on her.  And she teases me about how I can’t control myself and I must be in heat -  _ you _ know how soft and sweet her voice is and she’s telling me I’m a sloppy beast and she could smell my pussy from across the room and - um.”  She’d pulled the ribbon loose fidgeting with it.  “But I love that.  Like the whole  _ fun _ of it is that I’ll do anything to please her and she’s in charge and she - she’s got all this power over me and I can’t even explain it, like even if she didn’t let me come at all I’d still want to do everything she wanted and I’d just feel lucky she wanted it from  _ me. _  Oh, but she always makes sure I  _ do _ come.  I mean repeatedly, till I’m just obliterated and I can’t move or talk and she’s still humming to herself and playing with my ribbon and telling me I’ve been such a good girl.  And I love her so much it’s - okay, it does just sound really weird.”

“But it sounds like you’re both happy with it, so that’s good.”  That was the nice, supportive thing to say on the surface while underneath she was just stunned with relief.  They were  _ deviants,  _ not exactly the same as her but really just as bad.  

“And then afterwards she gets me all calmed down and cleaned up, and I get a sponge bath and I get my hair brushed and I just get to feel all soft and spoiled.”  The funny part was how Jasper obviously didn’t  _ want _ to stop talking, even when she was this flustered; Lapis wasn’t quite sure yet whether she was confessing or showing off, but she was leaning showing-offward.

“I would honestly not have expected to meet a Quartz who loves being humiliated.  Clearly I’ll have to revise my whole world view.”

“Yeah, well.”  She was still fidgeting with the ribbon, winding it around her forefinger and unrolling it again.  There was a little smile quirking at the corner of her mouth, though.

“I’m surprised about you letting her tie your hands, though.  Not because you’re a Quartz, because you’re  _ you. _  How could that ever be a good thing for you?”

“It’s not the same.  I’m not saying that to make you feel better, you know, it’s really not the same.  One, ribbons and scarves and sashes don’t feel anything like chains or cold water.  Two, I trust her a hundred percent and she’ll  _ always _ let me out if anything goes wrong.  It did once, I got a cramp, she undid everything straight away and she just took care of me till I felt better.  Three, we’re in a room where I feel safe and I’m having a really good time, and she’s never just sprung anything on me, she runs ideas by me when I’m calm and not too horny to think straight.  Although it is  _ so _ hot when she’ll start a serious conversation about better ways to discipline me.  Like, ‘Pulling your hair is a good way to steer your head but it’s just not effective for curbing your masturbation, how would you feel about some soft restraints?’”

“She doesn’t let you masturbate?”  That seemed overly strict.

“Oh, normally is fine.  There are just different rules for being her pet.  Remember, that’s not all the time, that’s an occasional treat.”

“Right, you mentioned dressing up for it.”

“Right, and she looks so beautiful.  She wears all these soft floaty wispy things and lace and ribbons and silk stockings and satin slippers - you know the fancy ballet ones for dancing on tiptoe?  She’s like this - this princess ballerina fairy that I shouldn’t even be allowed to touch, but she wants to sit on my face and fuck my mouth.  She’s  _ so hot.” _

“Tell me something I  _ don’t _ know.”

Jasper seemed to take that as a pretty literal instruction.  “Once she had me flat on my back on the floor, arms tied, legs trussed, she was standing between my legs and she’d run the tip of her slipper toe up and down my slit and round and round my clit, sometimes she’d put her foot down on it and lean on it a little, I was losing my mind, and she was telling me how desperate I looked and how funny it’d be if they could see me on Homeworld, and she pushed her slipper toe right into my pussy and fucked me like that.  It was in-fucking-credible.  I ruined that poor slipper, it was soaked through.”

“Shall we both just be honest for a moment here?” Lapis asked.  She slipped off the couch and stood up straight, turning to look Jasper in the eye.

“I think I’m being pretty honest, I’ve never told anyone about that before.”

“You’re telling me all this because you’re getting off on it.  Describing the things Pearl does to you is getting you so wet you’re pretty much sitting in a puddle.”  Lapis folded her arms and lifted her chin.

“Am not,” Jasper said faintly.  

“You’re blushing, you’re sweating, you keep biting your lips and your pupils are dilated.”

“It’s warm in here.”

“Spread your legs.”

She did it so quickly Lapis could only be impressed by whatever programme of obedience training Pearl had going.  Suddenly she was remembering all the times she’d seen Pearl just beckon slightly and Jasper move immediately.  There was a damp, musky-smelling streak soaked through her pants below her mound, and just above where it started a slight peak, as if her clitoris was so distended with her arousal it was actually straining the fabric.  It served her right for wearing such tight pants, obviously.   _ I should plant my foot right there.  Bare feet aren’t the same as silk slippers but in the state she’s in she’d hardly notice the difference. _

“Are you going to keep arguing?” she asked.

“No,” Jasper mumbled.  “I’m - you’re right, I’m telling you all the details because it’s getting me off.  I’m so wet I -”  She inhaled sharply and didn’t finish.  

“Do you want me to do something about it?”

Another deep inhalation, and a long, shaky exhale.  She shook her head.  “I don’t want to do anything unless Pearl knows about it and it’s okay with her.  I shouldn’t have started something I don’t want to finish.”

“I shouldn’t have kept encouraging you, but you were awfully cute.  Don’t worry about it.  I’ll let you have some privacy to take care of that.”

She left in a hurry, grateful that the heavy door moved so easily on its rail and she didn’t have to stop and ask for help.  She could hear Jasper give a faint little moan as she went out and had to bite her lip to stop herself turning around to see if she was already touching herself.

_ Good thing I got out of there before she saw me drip on the floor or something.  _  Her legs were trembling and she gratefully stumbled into a little dark alcove and sank down with her back against the cave wall.  It was hard and rough against her bare shoulders, and this was definitely not proper privacy, but she was going to chance it, already bundling up her skirt and slipping in quivering fingers.   _ Jasper is knuckle-deep in her own cunt by now.   _ Oh _ my stars, I want Pearl.  What would she  _ do _ to me if I invited her?  What does she want me to do for her?  Please, Pearl, teach me how to kiss your pussy, teach me how to make you come, when you’re with Jasper let me watch, let me help.  I’ll be so good, I promise. _

And it was one of the infuriating times when she couldn’t  _ quite _ come, when no matter how she rubbed or stroked or thrust she could only get  _ near _ the edge and then feel herself sliding back.  After several frantic, futile efforts she gave up in disgust and sagged back against the wall.  She’d wet her skirt for nothing and she was going to have that weird bloated unsatisfied feeling for hours and her mood was going to be absolutely rotten.  At least the skirt problem could be solved as simply as sending the liquid away.  She got up gingerly, shuddering when she accidentally scraped her gemstone against a bulge in the rock wall.  No harm done, it just felt hideous.  Yet again, all she wanted in the world was for Pearl to hold her and comfort her.   


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there's more. This is like... forty pages or something that is mostly acutely fluffy Pearlapis fucking? It's really overblown and at one point Pearl makes Georgia O'Keeffe references? Is that okay with everyone?   
> It feels odd to me, but it seemed to work with the progress of the story, such as it is, that at the beginning of this chapter there is a brief appearance by Steven and Connie. Their sphere of things is completely separate from what's going on with Pearl, Lapis and Jasper but family life doesn't disappear while you're having a torrid affair, I guess. I don't want anyone to be worried about that when they appear, I promise you the children are not exposed to anything grossly inappropriate.  
>  _There's actually more of this._

She lurked around in the living room until Pearl came home, shooing Steven and Connie off the warp pad with an affectionate laugh; they were so excited and happy about something they’d done that they just kept hopping in circles around each other singing each other’s praises.  The knees of Steven’s jeans were torn out, blood-speckled grazes visible through the tattered denim, and Connie had a bump above her left eyebrow swelling to the size of a bantam egg, but they were euphoric.  Lapis hung back awkwardly feeling feverish and unwholesome and unfit to be in their joyous company while Pearl fussed around icing Connie and disinfecting Steven.

“You should come with us next time, Lapis!”  Connie said, startling her out of her thoughts.  She was beaming even though she was holding a plastic bag of ice wrapped in a dishtowel on her forehead.  “You’re such an amazing, versatile fighter, it would be a great way for us to learn.”

“Oh, no!  I couldn’t.  I mean, I really fought you once and you both nearly drowned.  I don’t want to hurt you now.”

“Pssh, that was ages ago,” Connie said.  “We’re both a lot stronger now - and anyway, we can’t expect to always face the same kinds of enemies, right?  That’s why we practise against Pearl and Amethyst and Garnet for variety.  Peridot gets to be on our team because she’s learning too, obviously.”

“We all love your enthusiasm, Connie,” Pearl said, taping a gauze patch to Steven’s knee, “but if Lapis doesn’t feel comfortable helping to train you please don’t pester her.”

“She’s not pestering, I just - give me time to think about it, all right, Connie?”

“Sure.  Honestly, no pressure, I just want you to know that if you want to get involved we’d love to have you.  Dropping the subject right now,” Connie assured her.  

Steven chimed in.  “Oh, and we’re going into town to get shakes before Connie has to go home.  Do you want to come with us?”

“I was really hoping to discuss something with Pearl - but if you’re going with them -”

“Oh no,” Pearl said briskly, finishing off Steven’s dressings and rolling his pants legs back down, “even if it weren’t for the fact it has to come back out somehow, I have no interest in ingesting anything squeezed out of a cow.  Keep the ice on your head for at least ten more minutes, Connie, ice it again in an hour, and perhaps don’t tell your mother exactly how you acquired that lump.”

“Yeah, some things are better left vague,” Connie said.  “I’m sure I’ll still get a lecture on head trauma and my developing brain.  C’mon, Steven.”

“Okay, but I can’t bend my knees so I’m gonna walk like a robot.  You may address me as Steventron; boop beep.”

When they were out of the door Pearl turned to Lapis with a happy sigh, drawing her into a hug.  “How are you, my darling?”

“All right.  Well, in minor turmoil, but still only minor, and just happy to see you.”  She laid her head on Pearl’s shoulder.  

“Oh dear - what’s the turmoil?”

“It’s ebbing.  I had a good talk with Jasper about it.  Could we talk about it in your room?”

“Of course.”

As the door closed behind them and the hush of rushing water filled the air, Pearl added, “I do try not to be insecure or jealous about these things, but I also notice how often it seems to make you feel better to talk to Jasper about things that - that you don’t seem to bring to me, and so I wanted to know if there’s something I’m doing that puts you off.  Is there?  I’ll stop, I promise.”

“No, it’s not - it’s easier to talk to her sometimes because I don’t care about  _ disappointing _ Jasper the way I care about disappointing you.  I don’t worry about ruining my relationship with  _ her. _  Whatever it is.”  She shrugged.  “I suppose I worry a _ little, _ I don’t want it to go back to open hostilities, or covert hostilities which might have been even more stressful… but the stakes aren’t the same, are they?”

“I suppose not.”  Pearl looked down at their joined hands with a small smile, and brushed her thumb against the ticklish inside of Lapis’ wrist.  “Come and sit down.”  She led her to one of the quiet corners of the room where small streams trickled between smooth stones and she had built a kind of large triangular hammock of heavy white silk.  Pearl always liked things to be the most beautiful she could make them.  This was her favourite place for them to curl up and talk, usually with Lapis’ head cradled on her shoulder or in her lap.  This time Lapis sat up, cross-legged, and Pearl mirrored her.  Gravity and hammocks being what they were, they were knee to knee.  Pearl reached out and tucked back a wisp of Lapis’ hair, stroking her cheek, a gentle, coaxing little smile on her face.  “What did you want to talk about?”

“You know I’ve been all weird and skittish about sex.  I said I wanted to and then I’ve kept backing out and I’m sorry, that must be awfully frustrating for you.”

“Please don’t worry about that.  If you’re not quite ready I understand.”

“But I  _ do _ want to.  I’m just so badly out of practice, and I’ve built it up so much in my mind that I’ve made myself so nervous - well, I got in my own way.  I couldn’t stop thinking that I’d disappoint you or we just wouldn’t be compatible.  Jasper - allayed some of the doubts, I suppose?  She told me more about what you want and what you like, and it was reassuring and encouraging, and I just want to say please don’t be upset with her for that, because she was being kind.”   _ And a little bit weird but I want to overlook that since she was actually helpful.  Well, we were both weird about it but discussing that now isn’t going to help anyone. _

Pearl’s eyebrows crumpled together, rising in the middle.  “Do you mean she told you things about how  _ we _ make love?”

“Yes.  I hope that’s all right.  If we’re going to share a partner we ought to be able to talk about those things, right?”

“I - I suppose so, but I hadn’t thought - I don’t know what you must think of me - though I suppose it depends which parts she told you about.”  Pearl looked away, blushing, probably thinking of unmentionable things involving ballet slippers - or maybe goings-on Jasper hadn’t even got round to describing.

“The most important thing she told me is how you take care of her and how you love to teach her what makes you happy.  And how, all right, yes, a lot of what you do would be considered strange by a lot of people, but that doesn’t put me off, that makes me think well then, she can probably accept me and the way I am, even if  _ I’m _ not always comfortable with it.”

“Oh?”

“I sometimes have some problems similar to Jasper’s.  I think she said she gets needy and whimpery.”

“Um.  Yes.”

“And needs firm handling.”

“Yes, definitely,” Pearl said, then seemed to catch up with how that sounded and gave a delicate little cough.

“Then that’s comforting to know.”

“If that’s comforting, I’m glad, but then I’m not sure what you were worried about.”

“That apart from the kissing stuff you would be all - normal and healthy!”

“I  _ am  _ normal and healthy!”  Pearl said indignantly.  “I think you had the bad luck to learn about sex from people who passed on some very backward ideas.”

“It probably didn’t help that a lot of them were very big, senior Gems who were getting a thrill out of how perverted and decadent it was to be having an affair with little me.”

“Oh,” Pearl said, with an expressive roll of her eyes.  “I know the type.  Not Rose, she was always honest about wanting to be with  _ me, _ because of who  _ I _ was, not all that rubbish about how thrilling and dirty it is to secretly lower yourself with a naughty little Pearl.  To be honest I think Jasper might have just a trace of that sort of fetish but it’s balanced out by how much she really loves  _ me.”   _

“Did you have… affairs?  With that kind of Gem?”

“I chose not to.  There wasn’t anything I cared about in it for me, and I was in - well, it was an odd sort of position in the Pink Court.  I had a certain security because I was part of a matched group, very carefully chosen, very rare, and it would have taken a lot for Pink Diamond to decide to break us up or discard any of us, so we didn’t need anyone else’s favour.  We just concentrated on dancing beautifully and being excellent servants.  Of course she broke us up in the end, but that was just a sign of how highly she thought of Rose when she was seconded to the Blue Court.  She presented me to her as a gift, so she could have the befitting sort of comfort and luxury way off in the colonies.  Pink Diamond always was a snob about the colonies.  I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, I didn’t know how to  _ be _ by myself, and then we were alone together and Rose knelt down to look me in the eye and asked me how I felt.  She said I didn’t have to go such a long way with her if I didn’t want to, and she could find a way for me to stay with my group if I’d prefer.  I didn’t take her seriously at the time, of course, I said of course I wanted to go with her, I belonged to her now.  She really meant it, though.  That was Rose.”  She gave a soft, helpless little laugh.  “Anyway, I didn’t mean to get sidetracked talking about her.  This is about  _ you.” _

_ I’m glad you remembered,  _ Lapis thought and carefully did not say.  She didn’t think she’d ever be philosophical about Rose Quartz’s habit of posthumously intruding the way Jasper was.  At least she could hold back from being actively snotty about it.  “Well, then I just have to ask, is there anywhere you’ll need to be in the next few hours?”

“I think I’ll need to be here with you,” Pearl said, and kissed her.

_ “Sweet _ Pearl.”  Lapis wrapped her arms around her, leaning in, trying to remember everything she’d been learning lately and melting into the way Pearl’s mouth moved with hers.  “Please teach me,” she breathed against her lips, and felt Pearl shiver, and kissed her again through a smile.

“What should I teach you, darling?”

“How to make love to you.  The beginner’s course, I’m not so silly as to think I can become an expert in an afternoon.”

“Mmm, maybe with your prior learning you’ll make faster progress than you think.  I’ll want to teach by demonstration as well as by instruction.”

“Yes, please.”

“Lie down, sweetheart.”  Pearl eased her onto her back and covered her, kissing her slowly and deeply as her hands stroked through her hair.  For a moment Lapis felt the way she always had, watching herself and her reactions from somewhere inside but removed, trying to produce the responses her partner would want and hoping that there would be parts that felt good along the way.  It faded as she wrapped her legs around Pearl’s narrow hips and felt a sweet warmth growing where they rubbed together.  Then it was back as Pearl began to kiss her neck.  It felt good but she didn’t know what to  _ do,  _ didn’t know what her part was, what sounds to make or how to move.   _ Then I won’t do anything, I’ll just - I’ll breathe and see how it feels. _

“My neck is very sensitive,” Pearl murmured, the words tickling where her lips had just been.  “I think yours might be too.  I always want gentle kisses along here… here… here… from the chin down to the collarbone… and something a bit stronger here at the side.”  The pressure and suction, the wet sliding motion of her tongue, made Lapis catch her breath.  “Mmm?  Would you like the other side?  Call me fussy, but I like to feel  _ even.” _

“‘splease.”  She turned her head and felt the warm, eager press of Pearl’s mouth there too, thinking that she should stroke her hair, should  _ contribute,  _ but only truly wanted to  _ absorb. _  “Pearl?”

“Mm?”

“I feel strange.”

“Do you want to keep going?”

“Yes.  Please.  Here.”  She fumbled at the back of her neck, found the end of the ribbon and pulled it loose, dragging down the front of her top impatiently.  The cool air hit her skin and pricked up her nipples, and Pearl frankly, sweetly stared.

“Yes?”

“Yes.”  She watched, biting her lip, while Pearl bent to kiss her small, pointed breasts, lightly at the tips, one, two, and then to her surprise came back up to kiss her mouth while her hands covered them, slowly kneading with a rolling motion of her palms.  

“Yes?” Pearl whispered against her cheek.

“Yes,” Lapis breathed.  “Take yours off too?”

Pearl kissed her once more before sitting up, loosening her sash and pulling her top up from her waist; Lapis reached out to help her and ended up sliding her hands just under the rising hem, up over silky pale skin, looking in wonder at how beautiful she was bare until Pearl got her head stuck in her collar and urgently needed more practical help.  

“Hold on, don’t keep pulling.”  Lapis sat up and tried to get it unhooked from under her nose.

“I should have just phased it off but I was trying to be all seductive and now I can’t because I’m flustered,” Pearl lamented, muffled.  

“There.”  She lifted it from the back, tugged it free and smoothed Pearl’s ruffled hair.  “Don’t worry, I’m still seduced.”  She kissed her gladly, pressing up to feel their bare skin together, hugging her close, and fell gently back with Pearl landing on top of her.  Pearl made an indescribable, untranscribable sound that climbed a scale through a squeal and shaded into a moan and bubbled into an irrepressible little gurgle of laughter, all of it smothered inside the kiss.  They got very pleasantly sidetracked into kissing again, which Lapis was beginning to think was really Pearl’s favourite part.  The way she was using her tongue was getting increasingly lascivious and Lapis felt she was just a hair’s breadth from breaking up into nervous, overwhelmed giggles.

“You have such a wonderful, natural talent and I’m  _ so _ lucky I get to teach you,” Pearl breathed against her lips before pressing in again.

_ I wish she’d say I’m learning faster than Jasper did.  Oh shut  _ up,  _ Lapis.  I swear you can ruin anything.  So what if I’m slower?  I’ll be the remedial student who gets extra drilling.  Ooh.   _ There was that lush, indulgent feeling of wet warmth seeping between her pussy lips, and she thought of Jasper again, enjoying being scolded and shamed for how wet she got, and she was almost laughing  _ again,  _ which she was pretty sure Pearl would  _ not _ appreciate.  She took her mind off it by hitching her hips up, squirming into place so she could rub her mound against Pearl’s.  For half a second Pearl went still as if she had shocked her, and then she was rocking back against her, grinding firmly down and around, and her tongue was moving like her hips were moving.  The sweet heat inside bloomed bigger and Lapis whimpered.

“Good?” Pearl asked, her voice gentle and low.

_ “So _ good.”

“I’m happy, but I have to ask you to be patient.  There’s more to learn before I get as far as your pussy.”

_ She said while grinding them together.   _ “Hearing you talk about my pussy is doing such weird things to me.”

“How does it feel?”

_ “Wet.” _

“I love how throaty your voice has gone - not to mention the look on your face.  It’s  _ so _ tempting to just keep going and see if we can both come like this.”  She gave a little shrug and echoed it a second later with a deliberate twitch of her hips.

_ I thought Jasper must be exaggerating about how dominant she is but oh my word.  I want her to fuck me till I forget my name.   _ “B-believe it or not I’m usually very verbal during sex, very, um, very composed, very…”

“But you’re not with me?  What a beautiful compliment.”  She lifted her hips.

“Oh  _ please _ don’t stop!”

“Don’t  _ whine,” _ Pearl said fondly.  “If Jasper was as indiscreet as I think she was, you’ll know I don’t give in to whining.”

“What about begging?”

“Lapis Lazuli, I’m surprised at you.  Didn’t she tell you the rule?  Good, patient girls get orgasms; naughty greedy girls get…”  Pearl’s voice faltered.  “Is this what you want?  I’m not just going to treat you the same way as Jasper, I don’t want to be - automatic.”

“What do the naughty greedy girls get, though?  I really want to know.”

“Well, it varies, but at the very least they get their pussies spanked.”

Lapis had to close her eyes and bite her lip, breathing in deeply while a ridiculous surge of desire rolled through her.  She felt Pearl’s fingertips circle her nipples.  They drew tighter, harder, sending sweet twinges down inside her.

“For a first offence they  _ might _ just get their nipples pinched.”

“Oh yes  _ please.” _  Slowly growing pressure, all of a sudden so tight it hurt and she squeaked, losing her voice, arching her back hard and revelling in the sting.  Pearl held her long enough for tears to come to her eyes before softly letting go, and she subsided, panting and dizzy with a faint singing in her ears.

“That was for my bad girl,” she heard Pearl murmur, “and this is for my good girl.”  She gently licked one throbbing nipple, her tongue as soft as rainwater, and then the other, making it even, although Lapis wondered for a moment if her breasts had just been named and attributed morality.  That would be quite a lot for such small things to live up to.  She was so used to moaning as a performance, carefully controlling how she sounded even when the pleasure was perfectly real, that it felt absolutely weird when the sound just rose out of her while Pearl began to kiss and then to suck her nipples, being scrupulously fair in dividing her attention, the one that for the moment didn’t have the benefit of her mouth always consoled by her circling fingertips, except when her moan shaded into a whine and they punished and pinched.

“Pearl?”  She opened her eyes, blinking until she could focus on Pearl’s face, what she could see of it, mostly forehead, half-lidded eyes and nose.

“Mmm?”  Pearl looked up, still suckling and swirling her tongue.

“I love it so so so much but I also can’t bear much more.  Like I think I might cry.  I don’t want to cry, it’ll spoil it.”

Pearl drew back, leaving her nipple wet and swollen.  “Then you’re a good girl for telling me the truth.  Do you need a little rest, my darling?”  She reached up to stroke Lapis’ hair back from her face, soaked at the roots with feverish sweat.  “There’s no hurry for anything.  I can only really enjoy myself if I’m sure you’re happy.”

“I don’t need a rest, I need you.  All over me and inside me, please.”

“You’ve been so brave and so patient, you do deserve it.”  Pearl dabbed a trail of soft wet kisses down the centre of her tummy, just lifting her head when Lapis reached past her to pull up her skirt.  “Oh, my.  Oh, Lapis, that’s beautiful.  Of course they all look like flowers to me, but yours has gilded petals.”

“Flowers?” Lapis murmured.  Her mouth seemed to be as dry as everything else was wet.  It had had a lot of compliments, she knew it was quite showy, words like “luxurious” had featured, but flowers were new.

“Flowers,” Pearl confirmed.  “Rose had a rose, of course, all soft and pink.  Jasper has more of a fiery canna lily.  I think yours might be a lovely blue iris.  May I touch?”

“I feel like if you don’t I might die, so yes.”  Gentle fingertips began exploring, first tracing the soft crease at the tops of her thighs, then stroking inward, parting and spreading slippery-wet folds.  She closed her eyes again, breathing deeply, trying to keep it steady.

“So  _ dark _ inside,” Pearl murmured, “midnight blue, but this thread of tiny gold flecks leading inside.  May I follow?”

“Yes.”  Her mouth opened soundlessly as Pearl slipped one finger inside and she briefly forgot to breathe.

“My poor sweetheart, so wet and trembling, and you’ve hardly complained at all.  I told you what good, patient girls get.”  A warm kiss on top of her mound, then a very light, delicate stroke of the tongue, grazing over the swollen edges of her lips so they tingled maddeningly, and then a warm, firm upward lick  that made her shiver with relief.  Pearl went on kissing and licking, and the feeling was obscene and fascinating and delicious, and she only wished she could kiss back.  Having her lips drawn together and sucked felt so good that she had to pull herself together enough to talk and beg Pearl to keep doing that a while longer.  Just for a moment she was observing and judging herself again, lying there with legs spread wide and draped over Pearl’s shoulders with one trembling, twitching foot resting on her back, and both hands clutching her tender breasts as if she might lose them if she wasn’t careful.  She knew she was a dishevelled, graceless mess and then she stopped caring, because Pearl was beginning to work around her clitoris and the pleasure of it was getting so strong and sweet and urgent that there was no room left for anything else.  Her hips were rolling; she couldn’t even tell when that had started.  She felt three long, slim fingers inside her, stretching the mouth of her pussy tight, and a hot, wet, wicked tongue flicking and licking at her clitoris until it thrummed with frantic joy and she was gasping and squealing and peaking in a long, gorgeously overwhelming shudder.

After that came a lovely long time of dreamy mindlessness with Pearl stroking and soothing her, cooing and crooning over her, cradling her in her arms.  It was so comfortable it made her sad and she couldn’t remember why, but the sadness was embedded in how happy she was and she wanted it there too.

“That was good, wasn’t it, my darling?”  Pearl’s cheek was resting against the top of her head and she felt her voice  _ through _ her head slightly before she heard it, feeling and hearing blurring together as they overlapped.  She sounded so  _ smug _ \- well, of course she could, of  _ course _ that had been good, you would need to be blind, deaf and in another room not to know that.

“It was, it was.  Thank you.   _ Thank _ you.  Sorry.  I don’t say everything twice now.  Oh Pearl…”

“My bluebell, my iris, my forget-me-not.”

“My…” She wanted to reciprocate but the names of flowers weren’t co-operating.   _ Oh! _  “My lily… my… my daisy, my… what’s that one, it’s a tall stem with a lot of flowers, you pointed it out to me once in a gardening book and said the name meant a sword.”

“Oh, gladiolus?”  Pearl asked, sounding surprised and pleased.  “You know, I’ve always  _ felt _ like a gladiolus but you’re the first one to notice.”

“Even Rose?”

“Rose called me her precious girl and her faithful heart and her little star.  I said always, but I don’t think I knew as many flowers then as I do now, so maybe I didn’t know about gladiolus yet.  I’ve felt like a gladiolus as long as I was able, and I love you for seeing it.”  She kissed the top of Lapis’ head.

“Wow,” Lapis said faintly, feeling a small, stupid smile grow on her lips.  “Are you  _ glad?” _

Pearl giggled and kissed her again.  “Very glad.”

Her sash was still looped around her waist, though it was only loosely tied now, and she still wore her yellow pants, although her shoes and one sock were missing in action.  Her thighs were slightly parted as she lay curled around Lapis, and there was a wet patch just visible low down between her legs.  It stood out much more vividly on yellow than on Jasper’s dark pants.

“May I touch?” Lapis asked, tipping her head to look up at Pearl.

“Oh yes please,  _ yes _ please,” Pearl half-sang.

_ “You’ve _ been so patient.”  She eased her fingers inside the waistband and slid them down over Pearl’s flat belly, almost concave between sharp hipbone ridges.

“Not  _ very.   _ I had one hand for you and one for me.”

“Oh, sneaky,” Lapis said, approvingly.  “Are you a flower too or should I invent a new genital metaphor?”

“What do you think?”  Pearl nuzzled at her cheek as she curved her fingers over the small mound.

“I think you feel like a soft, tight little bud.  Hmm… a white orchid?”  She slid her middle finger down into the cleft, avidly watching Pearl’s face and rewarded by the sweet, elated look that bloomed there.  

“Help me off with these.”  Pearl wriggled out of her pants and lay back, a little breathless but smiling in anticipation.  “Oh, I meant to ask and got distracted.”

“What?”

“When you lifted your skirt for me you weren’t wearing anything underneath.”

“No.”

“Did you just phase them away or do you never wear anything under your skirt?”

“Never ever.”

“So you’re always only a gust of wind away from total indecency?  That really is terrible, Lapis, I don’t know if you should be out in public.”  Pearl gave a scandalised little giggle.

“I can always cover myself if I need to.  I just don’t usually need to.”

“Do you like to keep your skirt on all the time, on the other hand?  Or would you be happy to take it off now?”

“Of course I’ll take it off now.  There, it’s gone.”  She threw it away with a flourish.

“Lovely.  What I couldn’t see before today and I’m so glad I’ve seen now is your little soft tummy, down below the waist.”  She laid a gentle hand over it, petting the curve.

“Oh, that.  I thought you were all enchanted with my iris pussy.”

“I’m enchanted with all of you.  I just especially love softness.  There’s something  _ indulgent _ about a little round tummy.  I’m sorry, I’m embarrassing you, I’m fussing about a feature I don’t think you like.”

“Well, I did think I’d designed a really great outfit to minimise it.  You  _ didn’t _ know it was there.  No, you don’t have to stop touching it.  It’s okay, come back, hand.”  She held it there with her own and kissed Pearl’s cheek.  “It’s starting to feel really natural to kiss you.  At first I would go to say something or touch you some other way, for a particular purpose like cheering you up or making sure you know you’re  _ extremely _ pretty, and then think, oh actually, I could give her that message with a kiss.  It was like translating, I had to  _ think _ about it.  I still think about it a little bit but I don’t have to pause to translate for anything like as long, and sometimes it just… comes, the way words come to your lips when you say something on impulse.  Do you see what I mean?”

“Yes, and I think it’s absolutely lovely that you described it in terms of a new language.”

“Well, language, and lips, and tongue… it wasn’t far to reach.”  She slipped into another kiss, feeling Pearl’s arms close around her and draw her in, skin to skin with nothing left between them but an unravelling silk sash.  Pearl’s leg moved between hers with a gentle, quite polite nudge that became a much more assured push when she gladly parted her knees.   _ Soon I’ll be like Jasper and spread my legs on command, I guess. _  Astride Pearl’s smooth thigh she could rock her hips and rub gently up and down, and once she shifted her own leg a little Pearl could do the same, warm and slick like a kiss sliding against her skin.  “Oh… I wanted to do that for you, but  _ I _ got distracted.”

“Do what for me?”

“All the things you did for me, to show you I was learning and not just lying there.”

“Yes,  _ please. _  Oh - but I should warn you that I do get very excited, and vocal, and I do move around a lot.  It’s fine to hold me still if I’m making it difficult for you, just hold onto my hips and I’ll eventually get the message.  Oh, and I tend to get very - well, maybe overly wet.  Jasper doesn’t mind that but I don’t know if you will.”

“You’re worried that  _ I _ will mind if you get overly  _ wet?” _

“Mm.  Probably overly cautious of me,” Pearl admitted, smiling.  “You can start at my neck, then.”  Her voice carried on, low and warm and sweet, vibrating in her throat under Lapis’ lips.  “Lightly, gently… keep your mouth soft… just like that.  Very soft to begin with.  Oh… that’s so lovely… just… just travel down…  Oh my darling, I’ve longed for this, to be able to touch you in all the ways I’ve wanted to and to know you want to touch me.”  She arched her back and tilted her head, offering the soft side of her neck and tracing her fingers across it.  “Here.  Ah…  Just… just softly lick, and kiss, and - there, yes, there.  Seal your lips there and work your tongue against that hollow.  Isn’t your tongue wonderful?  It can be firm and probing, soft and lapping - there are - oh…”  She turned her head impatiently, guiding Lapis to the other side.  “There’ll be times when I want you to go oh so slowly and cover every inch… and then there are times like now when… oh… oh, I want to give you the chance to practise but I  _ might _ just try to hurry you along just the least little bit.”

Lapis laughed softly against her shoulder.  “Do you want me to just dive down?”

“Oh, no-no-no.  No, but you might come down here.”  She touched her chest, narrow and delicate and smoothly flat except for the little peaks of her nipples.  “But I want you to be gentler with me than I was with you.”  She gently tapped the tip of Lapis’ nose with her forefinger.  “I was strict because you asked me to be.”

“I know.  Very gentle.  Promise.”  She covered Pearl’s breasts with her palms and kissed between them.

“Did, ah, did Jasper mention anything about my preferences?”

“She didn’t describe it in detail because she was embarrassed, particularly to start with.  And when she warmed up to the subject it was more because she wanted to talk about how you make her feel.  Tell you a secret?  She’s in love with you.”

“She’s such a sweetheart,” Pearl said fondly.  “I  _ think _ I’ve just about forgiven her for telling you something private, although I may still hold it over her a little in fun.  We’ll see.”

“I think she said… hmm, licking to begin with, then sucking until they’re swollen and really sensitive, and  _ then _ nibbling so that they  _ almost _ hurt.  So… like this?”

“Exactly right.  Yes, exactly like that.”  She bit her lower lip, her eyes closing exultantly as Lapis’ tongue slid over the hard bud of one nipple.  “I… I was embarrassed at first too… but now I think… now I think my two sweet girls talking together about how to please me is such a lovely idea.  Just look what it’s led to.”

“Mmh.”  This was the very serious drawback of using your mouth to make love, Lapis thought, especially when you loved someone extremely chatty.  You couldn’t talk back.  You could get her to interrupt herself; Pearl stopped in mid-stream with a gasp when she moved from from licking to sucking, but after that she was just babbling with praise and love and occasional very specific instructions.  She’d meant it about moving around, too; she was constantly arching and squirming, lifting and rocking her hips, bending and stretching her long slim legs.  It was lovely to feel that she was so filled with excitement and pleasure that she simply couldn’t keep still, but it was also a little disconcerting when you weren’t feeling entirely competent in the way you were trying to please her.  She was acutely conscious of her mouth, of how wet it was (too wet? sloppy? being passionately sloppy was Jasper’s thing and she wasn’t sure what she wanted her own thing to be yet), of how overstimulated and tingly and puffy her lips felt when that was the state she was trying to get Pearl into.  Besides that she kept getting brief little whiffs, like glimpses, of the sharp spicy smell of Pearl’s arousal, and the thought that she was going to taste that too was simultaneously making her giddy with desire and shaky with nerves.  

_ It’ll steady me to do something I  _ know _ I’m good at.   _ She kept her mouth busy, sucking and drawing out higher and more urgent moans as Pearl’s nipples grew more tender,  and passed her hand down over one sharp hip and back up the inside of her thigh, pausing to squeeze at the top, firm and wet and slick.  A thought came to her and made her smile around the taut nipple.  With her fingertip she traced a question mark on Pearl’s thigh.

“What?” Pearl asked breathlessly.

To make it clearer, she drew an arrow up her thigh and into her groin, then shifted to trace the question mark again over her mound.  Pearl began to laugh, sweetly from sheer delight.  “You’re so clever.   _ Please _ touch me there.  Can you write me a message?  I don’t know if I can read it but I’d love to try.”

“Try,” Lapis echoed, quickly while she changed sides. She slid her fingertips down from the mound into the slippery warm softness below, parting the thicker outer lips and feeling Pearl’s hips kick and tremble as she slipped between the inner ones.  A little nudge up, and there, there it was, just a dainty little button of a clit, as taut and even more tender than the nipple she was sucking, and as she gave it a delicate little twiddle Pearl moaned, sharp and high before trailing down to a deeply appreciative kind of hum.

“Are you - oh -  _ oh _ \- are you writing the message?  I can’t - is that a C?”

“No, I’m just playing with it.  It’s so  _ cute.”   _ She slipped her middle finger down and inside, curling in the silky heat.  “Can I show you what I like?  See if you like it too?”

“Go on.”  Pearl reached up to stroke her hair, her hand trembling.

“I like to take my first two fingers and stroke in and out - nice and slow - and then when that’s really smooth and wet and sweet I kind of jiggle them like this, little fast bursts.”

Pearl gave a squeaky little gasp and tilted her hips differently.  “Again?   _ Oh!” _

“Tell me something you like.  Something I can do with my-size hands, clearly I can’t do what Jasper does.”

“It’s such a long time since I’ve even been with anyone else with our-size hands, it feels funny that it’s not just me.  Mmm… I like the slow deep stroking, I like that very, very much.  Oh, Lapis…”  Her head dropped back against the hammock and she arched, lifting her bottom, her hands fluttering loosely.

“I love you.”  She kept her fingers steadily working and kissed Pearl’s trembling mouth.  “I love you and I want to make you feel like this all the time.”

“Yes…. yes…”

“If I kept stroking like this, but I also went down and kissed your clit, would that be nice?”

_ “Yes.”   _

Nestling down between her legs, the spicy smell was so thick she could smell nothing else.  Pearl’s puffy lips were wrapped snugly around her fingers, and her clitoris was peeping out of its little white hood, delicate morning-glory blue.  She kissed just above it, moving her lower lip slightly side-to-side across its stem, and then the tip of her tongue, very softly swishing.  Pearl quivered and tightened, lifting her hips again, making a little sound in between a gasp and a cry.

“M-my darling, that’s exactly where I need you, that’s so sweet… hnn!”  She twitched a moment, panting, combing her fingers into Lapis’ hair to guide her head.  “I’m so close already… can you feel that?  Feel how I’m trembling?  Just - just keep your fingers going, bring your tongue down a fraction, work it just like that,  _ hard.”   _

Lapis’ mouth was filling with the taste of her and her wrist was beginning to burn with the tension of stroking just so.  Her head was all hazy with need and love and she wanted desperately to touch herself too but couldn’t possibly have co-ordinated it.   _ And Jasper said she needs to come again and again - what was her personal best?  Four?  I want to do five.  No, don’t be stupid, Jasper is not competition.  And see if you can make her come  _ once _ before you get ambitious about breaking records.  I love the sounds she makes!  I love her face all lit up with passion, I love how she moves, I love how she tastes, I love how she’s practically flooding the bed. _  Pearl was whimpering sweetly, straining against her until the tension in her broke and she cried out in relief and delight.  Lapis rested her cheek on Pearl’s belly as she subsided, feeling it rise and fall with her rapid breathing, still moving her fingers gently inside her.

“Oh, that was lovely,” Pearl murmured, reaching down to stroke Lapis’ hair.  “Oh… such a bright pupil, really.”

“Do you need to rest or could you keep going?”

“Give me… give me two minutes.  And please keep your fingers inside me.”  She lay with her eyes drowsily half-lidded, still absently stroking Lapis’ hair.

“I’m writing you a message, can you read it?”

“No, I think my vagina must be illiterate.”  After a moment, Pearl gave a fizzling muffled giggle through her nose.  “Why did I  _ say _ that?”

“I’m sorry, Pearl, I love you and I’ll do so many things to make you happy but I’m not wasting my life teaching your pussy to read.”  Lapis nuzzled a kiss into her belly, grinning.

“I think it’ll cope.  Its needs are simple.”

“What if I just draw a heart, can you recognise that?”

“I think I nearly can.  What did the first message say?”

“Just ‘hello.’”

“What are you thinking about doing next?”

“Showing you something I like.  It’s a little bit… obscure, I guess.  Not exclusive to me, but not that many people even  _ can _ do it.”

“Well, that’s intriguing.  I may rally for that.”  Pearl folded her free arm behind her head, propping it up a little.  “Are you comfortable there?  I’m not a very good pillow.”

“You’re all right.”  Lapis kissed the ridge of her hip.

“I  _ like _ being small and light but it’s a little sadness to me that I’ll never have a soft cosy lap.  Not like Rose or Garnet - or Amethyst, just on a small scale.  And then there’s Jasper - well, you have some experience of  _ her  _ lap, even if you haven’t used it as a pillow.”

_ Not intentionally, anyway.  I think I’ll hold back on that for now. _  “Do you?”

“Of course, among other things.  I love her combination of firmness and  _ squish,  _ especially along the inner thigh.”

“You said squish with such relish.”

“It’s a good word for her.  So is  _ lush. _  Luscious seems a bit overwrought but it’s still accurate.”

“You’re managing to ogle her when she’s not even here.  That’s impressive.”

“You agreed to condone it, but I’ll stop if you’re fed up.”

“No, I’m still condoning.  I just think you’re funny when you get all lyrical about her squishy thighs,” Lapis said, smiling.

“Then you name a feature of hers you like.  Come on.”

“Mmm… all right, easy, her hair.  She has amazing hair.”

“I know.  I love when she bends low over me and it falls all round us like a soft, fluffy, shaggy curtain.  My turn; her lips.  They’re so soft and full and plump and they feel, if possible, better than they look.  Now you.”

“I didn’t know we were taking turns.  And which lips?” Lapis teased.

“All of them,” Pearl said firmly.

“Then I’ll say she has such pretty eyes. They can be terrifying when she’s fierce but when she’s in a good mood… yes.  They’re lovely.”

“Yes, her eyelashes!  And that sultry burning gold colour.  You know, I asked her recently if she thinks you’re pretty, and she got very gruff and embarrassed and said of course you were and it was a silly question.  I pressed her for specifics and she got gruffer still, but I found out she thinks you’re delicate and dainty and elegant, and she likes your speckles and your little turned-up nose, and the back of your neck - or she may have been saying she likes the bow you wear at the back of your neck, she was mumbling into a pillow at the time.”

“I didn’t know you were pumping her for information about  _ me.” _

“I pump her for all sorts of things,” Pearl said airily.  “I don’t know  _ why _ I like the idea of you two being attracted to each other now.  It’s inconsistent of me, but it beats being predictably, miserably jealous.  I suppose it helps that I can think of sharing you with Jasper, and Jasper with you.  Oh, but I perfectly understand that you don’t want to act on it yet.  I don’t think she feels ready for that either.  I don’t think  _ I’m _ ready for it but it’s nice to try it out as an idea.  It’s developed into a little fantasy.”

“Do you want to tell me about it?  You feel like you do.  You’re getting wetter again.”

“Um,” Pearl said, and made a feint at looking demure.  “I like to imagine the two of us lying in her lap and making love while she watches us.  Depending on the mood, she may be allowed to masturbate or she may have to sit on her hands and wait.  Nothing is more adorable, more sexy or more  _ squirmy _ than Jasper desperately refraining from touching herself.”

“I think I should tell you.”  Lapis withdrew her hand and hitched herself up higher, lying beside Pearl and wrapping her arms around her waist.

“Hmm?”

“When she and I had our talk earlier, and she was describing how you make her feel, she got very excited.   _ Very. _  I realised she’d actually soaked through her pants - I could smell it on her.  She was ashamed of being in that state but getting more excited  _ because _ of the shame.  And it was mean of me, but I enjoyed seeing her that flustered.  I didn’t want to be  _ too _ mean, though, so I left her alone to take care of herself - and I needed to take care of myself too, after hearing all that about you.”

“Really?” Pearl asked faintly.  

“Really.”

“There’s knowing we’re not quite ready for that, and then there’s urgently wanting to go down to her room right now, give her a hard spanking and make her apologise to you for being so appallingly crude.”  She bit her lower lip, her eyes darting away.

“And  _ then _ she can watch us?”

“With her bottom and her thighs burning and her hands tied behind her.  Oh - I know this sounds cruel, but I always relent in the end.  The idea’s never been to really  _ hurt _ her, she just wants to be humiliated and then spoiled.  It’s cathartic, really.”

“I know.  She said you always take care of her - something about coming until she’s obliterated?”

“Well, if she  _ will  _ get that worked up whatever comes after is likely to be explosive.”  

“I didn’t expect this side of you but I really like it.”

“Did you think I seemed prim and proper too?” Pearl asked, a little wistfully.

“Pearl.  No.  I’ve danced with you, I know you better than that.  I mean I didn’t expect you to have that dynamic with Jasper.  I’d assumed it was more about her sweeping you up in her massive arms and throwing you down for a thorough ravishing.”

“But that actually happens more often than the spanking and the rest of it.  The full performance is wonderful but it’s  _ exhausting. _  Well, not so much exhausting as so satisfying that we don’t need another one for a few weeks.  Then we enjoy talking about it until we get wound up enough to do it all over again.  It’s cyclical.  In the meantime there are intermittent ravishings and a great deal of warm cuddly love-making.  The really nauseating kind with nuzzling and spooning,” she added in a gloating tone.

“Really, nuzzling?  For shame.”

“I know, but what can I do?  She seduces me with a combination of pretty eyes and burly arms.  And now there’s you, too, and no one could possibly deserve to be as lucky as I am.”  Pearl blinked suddenly, rapidly, scattering the suspicion of tears and kissed Lapis softly but fervently.

“I need to tell you one more thing, and I hope you’re not going to be upset, but in case it ever comes up and you are, I’m kind of honour bound to tell you this part wasn’t Jasper’s fault.  The rest of it was clearly her fault but I take responsibility for this part.”

“Er, what?” Pearl asked, looking slightly troubled.

“I… it’s embarrassing.  The whole story’s embarrassing though.  She was excited from talking about what you do to her, I was excited from hearing about it, I - I challenged her about it and she tried to deny it and I… got up and told her to spread her legs and she did.  I said it to prove my point, not - not to do anything.  I didn’t touch her and she didn’t touch me and I left right after that because we both realised we were going too far and got extremely uncomfortable about it.  She said, specifically, she shouldn’t have started something she didn’t want to finish.  So that wasn’t her being unfaithful or disloyal, it was just her getting a little bit overheated but controlling herself when it mattered.”

“All… right,” Pearl said slowly.  “I’m glad you’ve told me.  I still have one part of me feeling a little upset and another mostly being miffed that I didn’t get to see that.  Was she blushing?”

“To the roots of her hair.  Are you okay?”

“Earlier you said you felt strange but you wanted to keep going.  I think it might be like that.  Just… I understand it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but please don’t do it again.  Not unless we’ve planned it together.”

“Phew.  Thank you.  I promise.”

“And… I even quite like the fact that you felt a bit protective of Jasper.  Didn’t you?”

“I suppose so.  Maybe not protective so much as slightly… loyal.”

“Do you think it’s awful if I have a fantasy version of what you’ve told me where you don’t stop there, where you make her undress for you and masturbate for you but you still won’t touch her?  It’s just popping into my head.  And I don’t  _ want _ you to have done it, I’m glad you  _ didn’t,  _ but I still want to  _ think _ about it.”

“Probably not awful.  I don’t know, I think a lot of  _ my _ fantasies are awful and I still want to think about them.”

“Why are they awful?”

“Oh, just - they’re overblown and excessive and sort of absurd.  Let’s not talk about it, let’s keep going.  I still want to show you my special thing - although it’s probably excessive in its own way.”

“Oh!  Oh yes, I’m sorry, we were sidetracked again.”

“That was as much me as it was you.  Okay.  Just let me get us… arranged.”  At first she tried sort of straddling Pearl’s legs, before shuffling back to kneel between them.  Pearl lay comfortably letting herself be moved about, watching her with a tiny smile.

“Is there anything you want me to do, or can I be lazy?”

“Lazy is fine, but move around if you want to.  I’m not going to stop you.  Do you want me to describe it to you first, or would you like a surprise?”

“Mmm… is it gentle, at least to start with?”

“Yes.”

“Then a semi-surprise, since I know that much now.”

“Right.”  Now that it came down to actually trying to do what she’d been imagining, her nerves made it seem hazy and unreal.   _ No, this is real, it’s going to happen, Pearl is real and she’s looking at me with so much love and trust I can hardly believe it. _  “Here’s how it starts.”  

She drew water from the little nearby streams, agitating it to warm it as it rose, and brought it up to kiss Pearl’s back through the heavy silk of the hammock.

“What is that?”  Pearl asked, startled.  “It’s nice, but what?”

“You’ll be able to see in a moment.”  She rolled a gentle wave from the small of Pearl’s back to the nape of her neck and saw her shiver and relax into the warmth.  “This will wrap around you, but it won’t stop you getting up or moving away if you want to.”

“I quite  _ like _ being held down, you know,” Pearl murmured.  “But I appreciate you telling me.”

Lapis brought tendrils of water through the silk and up around the sides of Pearl’s body, embracing her, sliding silvery over her pale skin.

“Oh, of  _ course _ it’s your water,” Pearl said, her smile dawning brighter.  “At first it felt like a lick from an  _ enormous  _ tongue.”

Lapis bit her lip, then decided it  _ was  _ all right to laugh at that.  “Like Jasper times ten?”

“Times twenty.”

“Would you like one big licking tongue, dozens of little lapping tongues or something in between?”

“The little lapping tongues, and your little tongue lapping at mine.”  Pearl held out her arms and Lapis sank back into them.  The one really good thing about having done this so many times with people she didn’t care that much about was that she didn’t need to concentrate on it, not at the expense of concentrating on Pearl and her little sounds and the way her tongue moved against her own.  Making the water move like tongue-tips, that was new enough to be a little challenging, but it was just a refinement of what was already second nature.  She got sweetly lost in kisses while rivulets twined around Pearl’s nipples and wavelets surged against her thighs.

“I’ve never felt something so all-over before,” Pearl breathed.  “All over me and  _ alive _ and  _ intent,  _ I mean.  It feels like  _ you,  _ too.”

“It is.  So it wants to work and stroke and lick all over you and just… soak my love into your skin.”

“Sweetest girl,” she sighed.  “Will your love flow inside me too?”

_ If I wasn’t ridiculously aroused that would sound plain ridiculous. _  “Yes.  Into both of us so we feel it together.”

“Please.”  Pearl drew her back down, her mouth soft and eager and her hands quick and firm, kneading at Lapis’ thighs and bottom while she wriggled her own hips into what must be a more comfortable position, drawing up her knees on either side of Lapis’ body.  Lapis made a deliberate effort to begin gently again, drawing strands of water together between Pearl’s legs and making a steady, circling current, flowing around and then between her lips, tiny waves surging and breaking against her clitoris, feeling her hips shake in response.  “Oh yes-yes-yes,” Pearl whimpered.

“The other thing that feels nice is drumming raindrops.  Like this?”  That elicited a tiny grunt and an ecstatic gasp, and a mental note to spend a lot more time on that when she had more patience.  “And  _ then _ we flow inside… just like this… tell me when it’s enough.”   _ She must want to be really full, she lets Jasper…  Jasper would  _ hate _ this…  Stop thinking about her then.  Just think how it feels rolling inside you, and oh, watch Pearl’s face.  I bet that’s how I looked when she started licking me, that kind of shocked wanting something you didn’t even know how to want before. _

“Lapis!  That’s -”  She broke off, panting.  

“Too much?”

“No, no, just - just let me get used to it.”  Pearl looked down between their bodies in wonder and some disbelief, and passed one long pale hand down to cautiously feel what she could half-see happening.  “It feels so solid inside me but I can put my fingers into it, it’s still liquid.”

“Ice would be  _ horrible _ for this.”  

“Oh my goodness, yes!”  A bubble of laughter burst between them, Pearl’s fingers still probing, her giggles calming as she felt more.  “You’ve spread me wide open.  I love that.  And you… Lapis, your tummy feels all hard and taut.  Are you that full?”

“I - I’m not bursting, I like to press it in hard all along the front there because it’s sensitive… but I’m quite full.”   _ Please don’t think I’m disgusting distorting my body, I can’t help that it feels so good. _

“You’re shaking.”

“From holding still and holding myself up to give you a good look.  It’s okay.”

“Lie down on me and let’s move together.  Just like that.  Can you give me a little bit more?  Oh… you’ll give me a tummy too.  Would you like me with a little round tummy?”

A fierce tremor rolled through Lapis and she ground her hips roughly against Pearl’s, groaning.

“Oh, I think you would.”  She rolled back against Lapis, clutching her bottom, and gave a sharp, wavering little cry as the current surged inside her.  “Oh, darling!”

The last of the haze was clearing from Lapis’ head as the pleasure deepened and as Pearl urged her on, sweetly moaning, setting the rhythm between them with the firm stroke of her hips.  They were half kissing, half panting into each other’s mouths, and she couldn’t look away from Pearl’s lovely eyes.

“I’m so close,” Pearl was murmuring, over and over, “I’m so close, I love you, I’m so close, I - ah…”  This time when she came it was very quiet, as if she curled in on herself to treasure the feeling of it, her eyes closed and her body drawing still.  The look on her face was inexpressibly sweet, though Lapis was a little worried about how hard she was biting her lip.  At last she relaxed and slid against her again with a soft, shaky moan.  “Oh, Lapis… oh, yes, you wonderful…”

“Can I keep going like this?  I don’t want you to get sore.”   _ Please say yes, oh please say yes, I’m nearly coming and I want you to hold me when I do. _

“Keep going - keep going and come for me.”  Pearl’s voice was soft and coaxing, and she drew her into another deep kiss as her hips rolled and hitched into a sweet, sharp climax that left her blissfully exhausted, lying limp in Pearl’s arms while the water ran down her legs.

“‘m sorry it gets so messy at the end,” she mumbled against Pearl’s shoulder.  “Can’t really do anything about the leaky feeling.”

“It’s… interesting,” Pearl said cautiously.  “But don’t worry about that.  It was worth a little mess, and I don’t say that lightly.”  She kissed Lapis’ forehead and stretched out her legs, wrapping them loosely around hers.  “And I love you and I couldn’t be happier.”

“I love  _ you.”   _ Lapis laced her fingers into Pearl’s and dotted kisses across her knuckles, one-two-three-four.  “Um, Jasper said…”

“Oh, what  _ else _ did Jasper have to say?”  Pearl sounded amused.  “There’s no end to it.”

“She may have mentioned that you need to come several times to feel satisfied.”

“Oh, well, she exaggerates.  I  _ like _ to.  She and I know each other well enough now that it’s not difficult to do.  It’s a matter of pacing and rhythm and gentle escalation, and we couldn’t have done it at first.  Of course, she  _ is _ almost absurdly sensitive and responsive so I suppose her perspective is different.  I’m a little in awe of how compatible  _ we _ already are, aren’t you?”

“Mmm.  I’m not sure about awe.  At the moment I just feel all warm and heavy and squishy-soft.  And I haven’t felt like this  _ with _ someone for such a long time.   _ That’s _ why I was feeling strange.  I’m glad I pinned that down.”

Pearl made a small, soft sound of agreement and traced her fingertip around the edge of Lapis’ gemstone.

“Can I stay here?  Not forever.  Unless you’d like me to lie on you like a jellyfish forever.”

“Mmm… my little jellyfish, I’d like you to stay but this won’t be comfortable for long.  Shift over.  Be a little spoon.  Just like that.”  She curled up to Lapis’ back, kissed the nape of her neck and wrote “jellyfish” on her back under the teardrop.

“Oh noooo… is that my nickname now?”

“We could be more formal.  It could be Cnidaria.  But no, not if you don’t like it.”  She stroked the word away with her palm and wrapped her arm around Lapis’ waist, nestling in close.  “Do you want to sleep?  Jasper nearly always does, so I won’t mind.”  

“No, no.  I’ve tried it but it’s not really for me.  I’d just like to relax.”

Later, she supposed she could appreciate the irony of both of them falling asleep.  


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a theremin in this one, if that sweetens the pot for anyone.

This was definitely a better awakening than with Peridot in the beanbag chair, feeling as if she’d just spent a while being nothing, or in Jasper’s lap feeling as if she’d just had truly excessive amounts of sex and yet hadn’t been able to at all.  Well, excessive sex had been had, that was the nice part; she’d earned the aches and they were very nice aches, thank you very much.  Pearl’s airy warmth curled around her was drowsily comfortable, and she didn’t seem to have dreamed.  She drew in a deep, contented breath and opened her eyes properly.  

Pearl was dreaming, though, and projecting, the dream a silvery flicker-show against the smooth stone wall of her room.  She’d known Pearls did that, of course, but she was more used to seeing them - well, being  _ used _ as projectors, at a conference or when an announcement was made.  They didn’t project anything that was their own, or  _ private,  _ the way dreams surely should be.  She probably shouldn’t watch, and she was just working out how to roll over and turn her back to it without disturbing Pearl too much when she realised, with a shock, that she recognised what she was seeing.

_ That’s  _ my _ dream! _ she thought, almost indignant.  Could two people actually dream the same thing?  Was it like thinking of the same idea independently, or had her dream somehow leaked out of her head and into Pearl’s while they slept?  Either way, it was immensely embarrassing.

It wasn’t exactly the same dream, though.  It had similar key points, but her dream had been set somewhere dark and snug and enclosed; Pearl’s was in some kind of airy bower with gauzy curtains, silk cushions, soft light and pink flower petals drifting everywhere.  It was so very  _ Pearl _ to come up with the prettiest possible place to get fingerbanged.

Now that she was taking a prurient interest, the initial resemblance wasn’t quite so strong.  To start with the dream-Jasper had had the two of them on their backs, looming over them with a salacious grin, just like her own dream, but it looked as if there was a lot of pretend pouncing and growling going on, and concomitant breathless squealing and giggling.  She was actually  _ licking  _ them in long wet strokes.  Then they tumbled  _ her _ over and made a decent stab at pinning her down, bouncing on her gleefully.  It was a shame she couldn’t hear any sound, but the dialogue was probably as silly as the visuals.  It probably would be nice, though, lying there tucked in against her body the way they were now with one massive arm around each of them.  The dream-Lapis was resting her head on Jasper’s shoulder and watching contentedly while the dream-Pearl kissed her.  Could it actually  _ be _ that nice or was Pearl’s imagination just wildly optimistic and sentimental?  

It was strange, too, thinking that while in Pearl’s mind right now she was stroking Jasper’s hair and softly, sweetly kissing her mouth, her body was lying still - not worryingly still, but deeply, calmly still - just behind Lapis with one arm draped over her waist and the tip of her nose touching the nape of her neck.  Which of those could you say was really happening to  _ Pearl _ right now?

The dream was getting interestingly indecent again, with Jasper sitting up and each of them straddling one of her thighs and pumping against the thick curves.  She leaned back on braced arms, watching appreciatively as they rode.  They seemed to be having a race.  They weren’t very competitive about it; they didn’t break stride in the insistent stroke of their hips but they were always leaning over to kiss each other, or needing to brace themselves against Jasper, who was reaching out from time to time to stroke them, big hands gliding softly over their breasts and bellies, pausing here and there to rub or knead.  Then her hands were planted firmly, warmly on their hips, one each, fingers kneading at their buttocks - if Pearl was an accurate observer Lapis’ bottom was skinnier than she’d thought - while her thumbs ground down against their mounds.

Dream-Lapis was the first to lift herself up on shaky legs - that was slightly surprising, she’d thought Pearl would take the lead in her own dream - and accept Jasper’s thick middle finger, guiding it inside her and sinking down on it with her head tipped back in surrender.  Jasper leaned in and kissed her throat, her open mouth leaving the skin shiny wet and flushed deep blue.  Dream-Pearl was catching up, filling her pussy and screwing her hips firmly down; from the way her lips were moving she must have a lot to say about how it felt.  Maybe she was even singing about it.

Both of them leaned with their arms against Jasper’s shoulders now, up on their knees, pushed up, maybe, by the way she was thrusting her fingers into them.  There was something particularly, fascinatingly obscene about the sight of Jasper’s finger curling into her own, at least her dream-self’s own pussy, slick and wet and distended around its thickness.  Their faces were flushed and ecstatic, turned up to Jasper’s for kiss after kiss, even just to rub their tongues against hers open-mouthed, and for the first time she could feel something really physically happening to Pearl behind her, a growing tension in her sleeping body, a gentle tremble in her hips, nestled behind Lapis’ bottom.  Her hands twitched and the one draped over Lapis’ waist drew in to cup her tummy.  The pressure made her more acutely aware of the tender heat growing in her entirely non-dream pussy, together with the urge to rub enough to feel a little of what the dream-selves must be feeling.

_ I’m terrible to just lie here watching this, I know I am.  This is her special private thing that she doesn’t even know she’s showing me.  I can’t tell her I saw it.  I’ll just - I’ll just file it away together with my lap-dream and maybe one day draw on it for some ideas to make her happy.   _  Pearl was breathing softly but more heavily against her neck now, and her hips were rocking in a faint echo of the vigorous semicircular roll her dream-self was using.  Lapis felt suddenly hot and cold with the thought that she may have been moving like that in Jasper’s lap, unable to know it, fast asleep and out of control - but wouldn’t Jasper have  _ said _ something if she’d seen something like that?  If Amethyst had seen it she would absolutely have made fun of her, Lapis felt certain of that.  Maybe she was still safe.  

It was still terrifying, and it almost spoiled the sight of dream-Pearl and dream-Lapis coming, lavishly and simultaneously, with joy quivering through every line of their bodies until they wilted against Jasper and she sank back to cradle them in her arms, fingers still snugly tucked into their pussies and stroking steadily in and out, drawing and pushing them to a second (still lavish, still simultaneous) climax before she gradually slowed into stillness.  The real Pearl had thrust her hips quite hard against Lapis’ bottom once, twice, then strained up against her for several long moments before suddenly going limp again.  The dream-selves were utterly exhausted, melting with sweat and faintly twitchy, and Jasper was nuzzling at their hair and kissing their foreheads as the projection flickered and faded out.

_ She’s going to wake up, _ Lapis thought, almost panicking.  She shut her eyes tight and shammed sleep as hard as she could.  Nothing happened, though.  Nothing continued to happen.  Pearl was breathing quietly again and the tension had softened out of her entirely.   _ In a funny sort of way she just had sex with me but without me.  And I didn’t get to and now I feel all weird and overheated.  You’d think I could be satisfied with what I’ve just had.  I wonder when she  _ will _ wake up, if you don’t just wake up automatically when your dream is over?  How is it supposed to work?  That’s a thought - maybe I had my dream and then was asleep doing nothing for a long time before I woke, so if Jasper was asleep then too she wouldn’t have seen anything.  What’s the  _ point _ of sleeping in nothing mode, though?  I’m sure there’s a chemical reason for it or something if you’re biological but we’re not.  I both want someone to explain it to me and can’t be bothered dealing with it. _

Pearl sighed softly and stirred a little, making a small sound of protest in her throat.  

“Pearl?” Lapis asked softly.

“Mrrngh,” Pearl said.  Her hand lifted from Lapis’ side and it sounded as if she was rubbing her eyes.  “Wst… did I - oh, I went to  _ sleep.”   _ She sounded wearily disgusted with herself.

“Don’t feel too bad, I did too.  I just woke up a little bit ago.”

“We’ll have to have a rule.  A maximum of five minutes’ post-coital cuddling and then we have to get up and splash cold water on our faces and run briskly around the room or something.”  She wrapped her arms around Lapis again and gave her a soft squeeze.

Lapis laughed softly.  “You don’t have that problem with Jasper, though?”

“Not really.  I get drowsy sometimes but usually I’m just calm and comfortable.”

“What do you  _ do _ while she sleeps?  Isn’t it boring?”

“Mmm, no.  I’ll often bring a book down with me so I can read.  I like to watch her sleep and just dote on how gorgeous she is.  Once she’s sound asleep and I’m not worried about waking her I’ll usually get up and tidy the room.  She’s terribly untidy, there are always ribbons and books and those little mustard packets scattered around, she eats them like - like candy.  Even the wrappers, it doesn’t bear thinking about.  I asked her once if a life of military discipline hadn’t taught her to take care of her things and she said she wasn’t even used to  _ having _ things and she kind of liked to have them out where she could see them.  I felt so foolish because sometimes I just  _ forget _ how things used to be!  But I feel as if I can never forget anything at all.  It’s ridiculous.  But no… I’m not bored when she sleeps.”

“Can you tell when she’s dreaming?” Lapis asked cautiously.

“Sometimes.  Her eyelids move or her lips or her fingers twitch.  It’s only ever tiny movements, though, and sometimes she’ll lie there perfectly quiet for hours and then wake up and tell me about some epic dream she’s had full of running and leaping and climbing.  And sometimes she has a bad dream… and she wakes up breathless and frightened and cold and I need to comfort her.  The bad dreams are why I stay in her room while she sleeps.  In case she needs me.”

“What... are her bad dreams about?”   _ Me, they’re clearly about me. _

“They’re mostly about war.  Which is… another reason why I don’t want to sleep.  I haven’t had a war dream yet.  Waking memories are bad enough when they come, don’t you think?”

“M-hm.”  Lapis interlaced her fingers with Pearl’s and stretched their hands out before her, admiring the alternating blue and white.  That was much better to look at, and to think about, than dreams or memories of war, or her weird disappointment at the thought that she wasn’t in Jasper’s dreams, even the bad ones.  “What kind of dreams  _ have _ you had?”

“Embarrassing, confusing wastes of time.”  She felt Pearl shake her head.  “Even if they start out nice, someone I don’t want there always appears or… no.  No, I had a much better dream, I did, just now!  Lapis, I wasn’t thinking, I should have  _ told _ you, it was so lovely!”  Her unseen face must have lit up; her voice certainly had. Her arms tightened around Lapis and she felt her chest pressed warmly to her back.  “It was all about you and me and Jasper, all making love together in a beautiful garden.  It was like - I don’t think it was a real place I’ve been to, but I felt a very strong presence of Rose there.  I felt she was happy for me and giving us her blessing and her love was swirled all through the love I felt for the two of you and the love you were both giving me!  It couldn’t have been sweeter.”

Lapis couldn’t refrain from rolling her eyes, safely out of sight.  Good old Rose Quartz lumbering into the middle of everything and making it about her; she should have guessed from all the silly floaty petals.   _ And what makes Pearl even think I want to hear that, as if it was the most important part?  What about the Jasper-and-Pearl-and-me part which involves three people who are actually alive right now?   _ “Sounds wonderful,” she said warmly, and did mean it, the warmth just running alongside the irritation.  “Maybe you’d have that kind of dream more often - sleeping with me or Jasper, I mean.  Although I don’t really want to sleep that much, but if I can eventually get a good dream out of it I might be prepared to try more often.  But I’m sure she’d like it.  Jasper.”

“I still just - don’t really  _ want _ to do it, even if there might be a payoff.  I don’t think you do either, do you?”

“Not much,” Lapis admitted with a rueful smile.  “I’m not sure I’d even try to like it for her sake.”

“Well, you could always stay awake with me.  If, you know, one day we were all together, in a best case scenario kind of way.”

“In a beautiful garden?”

“Or in Jasper’s room.  We could spoon up three deep.  Would you like to be in the middle?”

“You want to be in the middle, I can hear it in your voice.  You’re just offering me what you think is the best spot to be nice.”

“I  _ so _ want to be in the middle.  And you know, when Jasper wakes up, the way she usually does - not from a bad dream, just warm and lazy and sweet - and she starts touching me, I can pass that touching on to you.  Think you’d like that?”  She kissed the nape of Lapis’ neck.

“Maybe.  How does she touch you when she wakes up?”

“She slides her hands down my back - like this, but you’ll have to imagine how big and warm they are - and she strokes my bottom and my thighs.  I wriggle around a little to encourage her.”

“Like this?”

“Just like that.  She’ll be whispering all kinds of sweet nothings in her lovely deep husky voice.  Then she’ll wrap one arm around me, like this, and the other hand goes on stroking my bottom, nice and slow and firm, moving down, and her fingers will nudge in between my legs from behind.”

“Ah, like that.”

“M-hmm.  Then she’ll spend such a nice long time just massaging around the tops of my thighs, and round and round my vulva, talking to me all the time about how soft and good it feels and how she wants  _ me _ to feel.  This is a little bit strange, isn’t it?  I’m sort of asking you to imagine you’re me and I’m her.”

“It’s working, though.”

“Good.  So she, yes, she massages me outside till I’m so wet  _ inside _ that when she finally opens my lips with her finger I - I leak, and she starts describing me in slightly off-colour terms.  ‘Juicy’ features a lot.  She’s still reaching in from behind, sliding her finger into me, and she brings her other hand down to rub my pussy from the front.  I’m going to use two fingers so you can feel a little more what it’s like.”

“Use three, her hands are huge.”  Lapis bit her lip, her head full of the dream-image of Jasper’s finger inside her.

“True.  She’s tried to give  _ me _ two fingers, but they just won’t go in together no matter how wet I am.  I think it’ll be the same for you.  I - Lapis, I want to hold you when she does it, I want to watch the whole thing.  Can I?”

“Of course you can. You have to.”

“That’s if, of course.”

“If, of course,” Lapis agreed, arching her back and pushing out her bottom.

“I really can’t give you anything like the full engulfed-in-Jasperish-warmth experience,” Pearl said apologetically.  

“Don’t need it.”  She hitched forward again and rolled over, pressing a fervent kiss into Pearl’s sweet, startled mouth as she slid her hand between her thighs.  “Oh Pearl…  It doesn’t matter if I like Jasper, I want you to be like  _ you,  _ not like her.”

“I just - oh…”  

“Mmm?”

“Here, just here.”  Pearl guided her fingers and moaned softly, rolling her hips against their pressure.

“Here.”  A sudden surge of excitement had run through both of them and derailed any attempt to continue the conversation.  Lapis rolled half on top of Pearl, kissing her almost as messily as the dream-selves, their tongues stroking and their fingers rubbing and their bodies pulsing with fierce sweetness, up to a rapid, breathless, messy climax that left her moaning and twitching, sprawled in Pearl’s arms.

Her mouth was dry and it took a few swallows before she could talk again.  “You know that really, don’t you?  I don’t wish you were like her.  You don’t wish that about me, do you?”

Pearl was doodling idly on her back with her fingertips.  “No, of course not.  It’s - it’s just still all a puzzle to me how I feel, how we all feel, and I’m piecing it together and sometimes I might get a piece the wrong way round.  In one way it’s just that I want to share the very nicest thing I have with you because I love you so much.  Then I catch up to myself and can’t understand how  _ I _ can be thinking that way.  I never, ever wanted to share Rose with anyone.  I never even really liked any of the people she took up with, and I always made my excuses when she suggested I could join them until she stopped asking.”

_ And you always hoped she’d decide she’d had enough of them and wanted only you, and you kept on saying it was all right because you couldn’t  _ believe _ she’d choose just you.  It’s so obvious why you were miserable and she should have understood and I just need to not think about it or I’ll say something and blow everything.   _ Instead she lifted her head and kissed Pearl on the left cheek, the right cheek, and the lips, gently and seriously.  “I catch up to myself every time I start thinking so much about wanting you and Jasper together.  Actually, I’ve been catching up to myself ever since I started softening up on her.  I’d tell myself, all right, if I brace myself maybe I can stand to have  _ this _ much to do with her, it won’t be too bad, and I’d try to just tolerate her and before I knew it I’d end up  _ hugging _ her or something.  I want to try to slow down.  I don’t want to go past big moments before I even know they’re coming up.  Of course, who knows how long  _ that _ resolution will last.”

“If it were me it would be until the next time I saw her,” Pearl said, smiling ruefully.  “Well, you tell me when you feel it’s time to make a move.  We can seduce her together, that ought to be fun.”

“That would be  _ so  _ unfair,” Lapis said exultantly.  “I almost feel sorry for her except she’d clearly enjoy us ganging up on her.”

“We need to be careful, though; we might actually fluster her to the point of poof.”

“Then she’s a big wimp and it serves her right.”  She grinned and kissed the tip of Pearl’s nose.

“Noooo, she’s my enormous sweetie and you have to be kind to her.  Within reason.  Of course you can tease her a little, but when it comes to teasing her more severely I’d like you to watch and take your lead from me.”

“I promise.  I’ll be your devoted making-Jasper-sexily-uncomfortable apprentice.”  She dropped her head on Pearl’s shoulder and hugged her tight.

“You’re being  _ extra _ sweet.”  Pearl squeezed her and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m just so happy.  That’s all there is to it.”

“I wonder what time it is.  I usually  _ know _ but that’s the other problem with sleeping, it resets my mental clock.”

“Hmm… don’t know.”

“I  _ want _ to stay here and canoodle, but I also think I should go and check on Jasper, just to make sure she’s all right.  I’m afraid she’ll be fretting about your talk.”

“Ugh. That’s the problem with a sharing arrangement, when you have to actually  _ share.” _

“Will you mind terribly?”  Pearl asked, tracing wings over her shoulderblades.

“I… I’ll mind a bit, but I’ll cope.  That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?”

“I promise to miss you.”  Pearl paused a moment.  “May I get up?”

“No, I just want to lie on you.  All right, but one more promise.”  She lifted herself on her hands and knees.  “We’ll go dancing, yes?  So Blue Opal can share how happy we are?  I suppose she knows in a way, but I feel as if we need to fuse again to really let her in on it.”

“Wonderful idea.”  Pearl smiled.

 

When Pearl had gone (neat and tidy and beribboned, humming a little tune) Lapis tried to lie around and luxuriate in comfort and happiness, but it felt pointless by herself.  Besides, she felt energetic now.  She cleaned herself up, reformed her clothes and twirled around the room a bit, trying to work out what she actually wanted to do, other than keep moving.  If she couldn’t be  _ with _ Pearl just now, she wanted to talk  _ about _ Pearl, but her primary talking-about-Pearl friend was probably occupied.  Her list of friends was a short one; it had Steven at the top, then Pearl, then Peridot, then Jasper written in at the bottom in pencil (but probably worth going over in pen).  

This was  _ not _ the sort of thing to talk about with Steven, other than probably, eventually, some kind of earnest and embarrassing talk about what happened when  _ three _ mommies loved each other very much - the alien joke clunked into place in her mind, and while she was sort of proud of her increased cultural fluency in being able to think of it, it wasn’t that great of a culture or that great of a joke.  Peridot would probably be thrilled that she wanted to talk about something personal, although Thrilled Peridot could be a bit  _ much.   _ Still, she had a feeling she herself was going to be a bit much in her happiness, so she set out to hunt her down.

Peridot was unchallenging to find.  She was in Amethyst’s room, sitting like a frog on the floor in the middle of a jumble of electronic junk that she was dismantling and remantling into something else.

“Hello,” Lapis called from the doorway.  It took a moment for Peridot to notice, but she looked up and waved her over.

“Hi!  Come and look at this.  I’m building an electro-theremin.”

“What’s that?”  Lapis twirled over, hoping to be asked why she was twirling, and bent to look at the boxy thing whose innards Peridot was dibbling at with a soldering iron.

“It’s the best musical instrument.  Amethyst and I were discussing music - did you know she plays the drums?  She’s very talented - and it just seemed like an accomplishment I should have.  I’m musically gifted, you know, I’m just untrained.  I did extensive research to determine exactly which instrument is the most appropriate vehicle for my self-expression and it came down to electro-theremin, hydrocrystalophone or musical saw.  Ultimately, the hydrocrystalophone is too breakable and cumbersome, and musical saw is just too… hicksville. Electro-theremin is the clear winner.  Oh!  I could play accompaniment for your next recital!  I’m sure once I master the basics I can be composing in no time.  By the way, do you know what’s wrong with Jasper?”

“Wrong with Jasper?” Lapis asked, giving up on a small arabesque.  “Not specifically.  Did something happen?”

“She was in a weird mood all afternoon.  She came up to the living room saying she wanted company, which was fine, we were just throwing popcorn into each other’s mouths and we needed someone to keep score - I mean Steven, Amethyst and me - but she just hung around looking gloomy and disgruntled and hugging a pillow and refusing to say what was bothering her.  Finally when Steven was trying to teach us an unnecessarily convoluted board game, without warning she sprang up, kind of bellowed and charged out of the house.”

“Bellowed?”  Bellowing couldn’t be good.

“Like a wounded moose, according to Amethyst.  So of course we followed her, if only out of morbid curiosity, and we saw her charge straight down the beach and into the water.  With her helmet on, which was definitely odd.”

“She really ran into the water?  Why would she do that?”  She sank down to sit beside Peridot, tucking her feet up under her skirt.

“I don’t know!”  Peridot shrugged, scattering blobs of solder.  “She just ran into it for four, five metres, through the breakers, then she  _ leapt _ and belly-flopped and sank like a brick.  Then there was some thrashing and bubbling, and Steven was getting alarmed, and we were trying to figure out how to reach her without getting clobbered, and then the thrashing  _ stopped,  _ and then she came crawling out looking like a drowned rat and fell on her face in the sand.  We were obviously concerned, but when we asked her if she needed any help she just raised one arm and stuck her thumb up and stayed face down for a few minutes.  Then she pried herself up, entirely plastered in sand by the way, and said she was sorry if she’d scared us and she felt better now and she was going to take a hot shower.”

“Well, it… I guess it sounds as if she took care of whatever it was?” Lapis said doubtfully.  “But that really doesn’t make any sense to me at all.  Did she do anything else?”

“When she was clean she drank a saucepan of hot cocoa Steven made her and then she said she was going to bed.  Well, I followed after her.  I’m a very loyal friend.  I cornered her and I asked her if she was really all right and reminded her that if there was anything bothering her I would want to know and try to help her deal with it - and I asked her if there was anything wrong to do with you and Pearl, because honestly, you seemed like the most likely suspects.  Which is also why I’m asking you, because Jasper clammed right up and said there was nothing to tell.  Well?”  Peridot stared at her expectantly.

“We… had a conversation… that I don’t think I should repeat, it’s private.  I didn’t think she was  _ that _ upset about it.  I’m sure it’ll be okay, Pearl is with her now, she knows all about it and she’ll clear things up,” she added hastily.

“You had a conversation that made her want to throw herself into the sea?” Peridot asked, narrowing her eyes.

“No.  No, I would say with confidence that that is not what the conversation made her want to do.  Any… self-throwing impulses must have come from somewhere else.  I’m just amazed that she’d do that.  Isn’t she still terrified of deep water?”

“She still doesn’t  _ like _ it, but she’s been getting braver.  Steven and Connie have kept taking her to the swimming pool.  Apparently she can sit in the water up to her shoulders now and keep pretty calm.  Not that I’m allowed  _ in _ to see that.”

“Seriously, what  _ did _ you two do to get banned?”

“While it would definitely be more rebellious and hardcore if it was because we had a quickie in a closet where they keep pool chemicals and cleaning gear - which we did, despite the smell - it was actually because afterwards we were on an endorphin high and got caught skidding on kickboards through the puddles on the floor of the women’s locker room.”

“You know, I can absolutely believe both parts of that.”

“It was a good day,” Peridot said wistfully.  She shook her head.  “Well, anyway, that bridge is burnt.  Can you hand me that little metal plate next to your foot?  Thanks.”  She bent over the innards of the theremin box again.

“I can’t think of a subtle way to lead up to this, but I did come in here because I wanted to tell you, so speaking of having sex, guess what Pearl and I finally did today?”

“Oh?  Um - congratulations,” Peridot said, looking a little startled and inclined to blush.  

“Is that… something I can tell you or are we not that type of friends?”

“No, no, of course you can - we can  _ adjust _ what type of friends we are to suit our changing requirements.  Congratulations, really, I hope you had - a good time.”

“We did!”  Lapis beamed.

“Oh.   _ Oh,  _ now you make sense.  I wondered what you were so perky about but you must have an endorphin high on too.”

“Peridot.  We don’t really have endorphins.”

“It’s a convenient metaphor.  Anyway, you know what I mean, like you’re all charged up with extra warm glowy twinkly energy.”

“For the first time in several thousand years, yes, I really am.”  She hugged her knees happily.

“Does this mean… we can discuss weird sex things?”

“How weird?” Lapis asked suspiciously.

“Not necessarily - I mean just how weird sex  _ is!  _ Weird and amazing and good and messy and strange and overwhelming!  And good!  It sounds as if I’m not  _ enjoying _ it if I go on about the mess and the strangeness but they’re part of  _ how _ it’s good but also, seriously, it is  _ so _ flipping weird with the engorgement and the secretions and the involuntary spasms.”

“Is all that new to you or something?”

“Of course it is.  I never had sex before I came here, obviously.”  She rolled her eyes and went back to soldering, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration.

“I didn’t know that was obvious.  It’s not as if you couldn’t have, is it?”

“No.  It’s not what Peridots are  _ for.  _  It’s a distraction that serves no useful purpose; we’re supposed to work more autonomously than that, and we don’t need the kind of team spirit that all that group sex nonsense supposedly facilitates.”

“Oh.  Right.  But… how did you handle that?  I mean, these days you’re crazy about Amethyst, you can’t keep your hands off each other, so back then where did all  _ that  _ energy go?”

“I was a professional!  I just redirected it.  To be fair, in those days I’d never met anyone as devastatingly attractive as Amethyst.  She’s - she’s changed my life and she’s given me all kinds of ideas for how I want to change  _ me.” _

“Like your star hair?”  That was the most striking change since Peridot had reformed post-slingshot mishap.  No one could be in any doubt about her Crystal Gem allegiance when the whole shape of her big lollipop head advertised it.

“No, that was mostly my idea.  Although - well, this may be an overshare but I did make some, um, body modifications.  Primarily to make sex more comfortable.  My original vagina was quite small and tight and it was just a bit limiting.  Most of Amethyst’s toys wouldn’t fit and even the ones that did tended to leave me sore.  I mean, I don’t  _ require _ penetration by any means, I have a perfectly functional clitoris, but I just didn’t like feeling that I  _ couldn’t _ do all the things  _ she _ can do.  Well.  Hence also adding an anal orifice, even if it’s not hooked up to anything.”

“Ew, really?”

“I understand that reaction, but seriously, if you haven’t tried it, do  _ not _ knock it.”

“It just seems kind of… animal.”

“No duh.”  Another expressive eye-roll.

“What do you… what do you do with it if it’s not hooked up to anything, and what does that have to do with sex?”  The little she knew about pooping was really worrying her right now.

“It’s an orifice, Lapis, it’s for fucking.”

_ “Oh.” _  She felt remarkably dumb, and then indignant about feeling dumb because that was literally ass-backwards.  “Well, I didn’t exactly think a body part that’s usually for ejecting stuff would be used for inserting anything.  And anyway, why do you need  _ another _ opening for that when you already said you have a perfectly good one that you just made better?”

“It feels different from your pussy, it’s hard to describe.  Well, it’s intense.  She started me out with fingers and small plugs but now I can accommodate quite a big vibrator and having that chugging along in the back while she attends to the front can make me come so hard everything goes white for a minute.  Are you judging me?  You look as if you’re judging me.”

“Sorry, I think my surprised face just looks a lot like a judging face.  Of course you should do what you want with your own body, I just - need some time to get used to the idea.”

“Well, it’s true that Amethyst’s approach isn’t exactly typical for a Gem.  She’s had human partners, even  _ men, _ and she did a lot of unusual things when she was experimenting.  Sometimes she, um, well, this will probably sound weird as well, but you know how good she is at shapeshifting, and she likes to grow her clitoris into a phallus shaped to fit me, and we’re working on me learning to do it too - although I haven’t got far yet, I need to concentrate to maintain the change and as soon as she touches me, bang goes my concentration.”  Peridot gave a rueful little snicker.

“That actually sounds less weird to me than the butt stuff.  I do something like that but I make the shape with water instead of with my body.  It’s not a phallus, though, it changes shape depending on how I want to move it and what she enjoys.”

“That sounds sort of neat.”  Peridot’s smile widened.  “Thanks for discussing genuinely weird sex things with me.  Your weirdness, although different, validates my weirdness!”  

“Oh.  Good!”

 

Pearl tapped at the door and waited a moment, but there was no answer.  Jasper might not be in, or she might just be napping, and either way, it was probably all right just to go in.  If the door had had a lock, she would certainly have had the spare key.  She slid the door aside a little and slipped through, pulling it to behind her as she ducked under the inner curtain.

Jasper was a large hump on her bed, huddled under a blanket, even her head almost entirely covered so that only a torrent of peach-blonde hair escaping from underneath told you which end was which.  Pearl knelt by the head end and lifted the edge of the blanket.  “Jasper, dear,” she called softly.  “Are you awake?”

Jasper lifted her head abruptly.  “Mmph?”  Her hair was damp and tangled and her eyes looked puffy and bleary.  “Oh… hi.”  She pushed herself up on her arms, kneeling with the blanket draped over her shoulders, and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“Are you all right?  You look… well, you don’t look your best.”  Pearl reached up to touch Jasper’s cheek, brushing across it with her thumb.  

“Yeah, I’m fine.  I just did something dumb.”  Jasper shook her head miserably.  “Pearl, I’m really sorry, I did something shitty, just please -”

She moved her hand to place her fingers on Jasper’s lips.  “Wait a moment.  Do you need to tell me about the talk you had with Lapis?”

“Um…”  Jasper nodded, her eyes still anxious.

“You don’t need to worry.  She’s told me all about it, very honestly, and I’m not upset.  It probably wasn’t the best way for you to go about it, but in the end you really helped us.  You gave Lapis the encouragement she needed, anyway.”

Jasper’s cheeks reddened.  She looked as if she still wasn’t sure if she was in trouble or not.  “She told you all about it?”

“All about it.  In fact, she made a point of telling me that the way it ended up wasn’t your fault, that she’d provoked you on purpose because she was just as affected as you were and she forgot herself a little.”

“She was?”  Jasper’s eyebrows crumpled in confusion.  “I couldn’t tell, she looked totally calm.  Actually, I thought she was kind of disgusted with me.  Mocking me.”

“Well, to hear her tell it she bolted from the room with her hand between her legs.  I think you might be underestimating the effect you have on her.  Maybe it’s not easy for her to tell you, but she’s certainly been telling me.”  She bobbed up on her knees and kissed Jasper, reacquainting herself with the shape and the feel of her mouth, almost unfamiliar again after immersing herself in Lapis.  She felt her respond eagerly and gratefully, leaning into the kiss and placing her large, warm hands lightly on Pearl’s back.

“So you’re okay?  We’re okay?”  Jasper asked earnestly.

“Absolutely.”

Jasper sagged back, exhaling a huge breath that puffed out her cheeks.   _ “Phew. _  I thought I’d completely blown it.  I was lying here trying to think what I could ever say to you make it better.”

“Well, I understand it wasn’t planned, and I know, because Lapis made a point of telling me, that you stopped yourself from going too far.  In the end I think that’s the most important part.  I - I don’t want you to do it  _ again,  _ I hope you understand that.  Not until - well, if anything like that is going to happen I think we all need to have talked it over and agreed to it.”  She was telling herself as much as she was telling Jasper.   _ That  _ is _ the most important part.  They could have gone behind my back, they could have done things in secret, but they both stopped, and they both told me the truth about it.  That’s something I might have been too afraid to do.   _

“Right, of course, of course.  That’s such a  _ relief.” _  Jasper pulled her into a tight hug, and Pearl wound her arms around her thick neck and snuggled into it.  

“Why is your hair wet, precious girl?”

Jasper made a sound in between a growl and a huff, her breath warm on Pearl’s neck.  “Oh, I got so strung out about what I’d done and how you’d feel and it all felt so bad I just… I felt like I’d messed things up and let you down and didn’t deserve you, and then I was thinking of all the other ways I don’t deserve you, like being so weak and never getting over things.  And I really wasn’t thinking straight, and suddenly it seemed like the only way I could live with myself is if I did something I was too scared to do  _ right then,  _ and I ran outside and kind of tried to fight the ocean.”

Pearl gave a startled giggle and immediately regretted it.  “Oh, Jasper, why?  Are you all right?  What happened?”

“I’m not saying it was sensible or anything.  I just ran straight out and kind of body-slammed the water.  It was fucking freezing!  And I panicked when my head went under and I didn’t know which way up I was, and I think now if I’d just got my feet under me and stood up it’d’ve been about waist deep but I couldn’t really get my act together to do that.  I just had to… I managed to make myself hold still.  And when I wasn’t fighting, it wasn’t as scary.  I knew I could get out.  That was the big difference, I still didn’t want to be there for anything but I knew I could get out, and then I did.  I lay down for a while till I knew I could get  _ up,  _ and then I did that.  Then I went and had a hot shower ‘cause I was still freezing, and Steven made me some cocoa because he’s got a heart of gold, and then I came down here to try and warm up, but once I didn’t have being incredibly physically uncomfortable distracting me, I got incredibly mentally uncomfortable again.  I already told you that part, we’re back up to that again.”

“My valiant tiger-lily,” Pearl said, patting Jasper’s back.

“Well, it’s probably not all that valiant just getting out of a situation you put yourself in like a dumbass.”  Her arms loosened a bit.  “I disappoint myself every time, you know.  Connie and Steven keep encouraging me and I think they really are proud every time I can get in a bit deeper or stay in a bit longer, but I hate getting praised for doing something so basic.”

“I understand that feeling but that doesn’t mean I agree with it.  You’ve made so much progress and I  _ know _ you’re going to overcome that fear in the end.  We’ll be together in my room and none of it will matter any more.”

“Hope so,” Jasper said ruefully.  “Hey, this may be a dumb question but I think it’d be dumber not to ask.  You’re telling me you and Lapis had sex in the end, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Um… good?”

“Very good.  And I love you and I want you as much as ever.”  She could feel Jasper’s arms tighten around her again.

“Good.  That’s how I want it to be.  You deserve that.  Well, both of you deserve that, I want her happy too.”

“I know you do.”  Pearl leaned back a bit, enough to look into Jasper’s face, and stroked her tangled hair back from her forehead.  “Would you like me to take care of your hair?”

“Yes, please.”

It seemed to be the ideal way to comfort Jasper; Pearl could see and feel her relaxing as she combed out the tangles and brushed it all smooth.  She hummed while she worked, and Jasper actually began to hum in response, her low warm drone that sounded as if her chest was a beehive.  She gathered up the whole sheaf of Jasper’s hair in her arms and pressed her face into it, breathing in deeply before she let it fall softly against her back.  “Would you like me to braid it for you?”

“Nah, it can stay loose.”  Jasper twisted round to look back at her.  “So I’ve got two awkward questions.”

“Go on.”

“Do you want to stay here or do you want to go back to Lapis?”

“Mmm… what time is it?”

“Like nine?  I think.”  She craned over to look at the alarm clock.  “Oh, okay, ten thirty-five.”

“I think I’ll stay here till morning, then.  That wasn’t terribly awkward, what’s the other question?”

“It’s just - I mean this is awkward because it’s new.  Have you had all the sex you want for one day, you know, with Lapis, so I should wait till tomorrow or whenever, or could we…”  She seemed uncharacteristically sheepish about the whole thing, trailing off with a vague wave of her hand.

“We could,” Pearl said firmly.

_ “Yes.” _


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At this stage, I'm tentatively continuing the whole damn thing over here, because it feels as if it "doesn't count" and so I feel free to do it (I don't know how this works in my mind but I'm just going to roll with it) and because this way I don't feel I have to segregate the sexually explicit parts of the story from the parts that are basically just about family life and friendship, and the whole thing can more or less flow. So, um, whatever? I don't know. This means that in one chunk of text you get a) awkward first-time kissing, b) crying over cute animal movies, c) fingerfucking. Sorry?

It was an extremely dull, grey afternoon with a heavy, leaden sky that talked a lot about rain but failed to commit. Jasper was sitting on the forecourt of the car wash on a plastic sun lounge that creaked dangerously any time she shifted her ass but otherwise seemed to be taking her weight, quietly bored out of her mind, when she spotted Lapis coming round the corner.  It felt as if a blush bomb went off inside her face; a sudden percussive thump of heat and embarrassment.  She hadn’t seen her when she was leaving the house this morning, which had felt like a missile dodged, but here she came now and she’d gone from bored out of her mind to flustered out of it without anything in between.

_ I have  _ got  _ to break that connection or I’m going to be useless any time she comes near me.  It’s as bad as when I was falling for Pearl and my nerves can’t take it.  Maybe worse, because I don’t think I ever made that much of an idiot of myself in front of Pearl.  Well, maybe I did but at least I didn’t know it at the time. _  Pearl’s reassurance had helped a lot with the  _ guilt, _ but it was still hard to shake the impression of contempt she’d had from Lapis, as if she very sincerely thought she was a big sloppy mess, without any of the indulgent affection that made that an endearment coming from Pearl.   _ Pull yourself together, she’s nearly here. _

She sat up straighter and raised a hand in a hopefully nonchalant greeting.  “Hi.”

“Hello.”  Lapis stopped a few feet off, standing a little awkwardly with one arm bent behind her back, holding the elbow of the other arm.  She offered a smile, though.  “I wanted to say thank you.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not  _ worried.”   _ She came closer and sat down on the end of the lounge, which would have tipped her onto the ground if Jasper hadn’t been weighting the middle down.  There was a protesting squeak from the frame of the thing which made Lapis look at it accusingly, as if it had said something rude about her.  “Except in the sense that Pearl told me you felt really bad about it and I didn’t want that.  I think I might have sounded a little harsher than I meant to at the end there.  I  _ did _ mean the part about finding you cute, if that’s any consolation.”

“Oh.  Thanks.”  

“You know your face is all one colour at the moment?”

“If you just came here to make fun of me -”

“No, no, that’s not it.  I’m sorry, I was - I came to ask, actually, if this is one of the days when you could sneak off early and we could talk without it being antagonistic or suddenly weirdly kinky.”

“Oh, no.”  It was a huge relief to know what to say at last.  “I can’t, it’s just me here today.  Greg left me in charge because he had to go to a meeting about selling that treasure you brought him.  I think he said there’s some kind of law that he has to offer it to a museum first?  So he’s meeting some museum people and they’re appraising it and it’s all kind of complicated.”  Telling Lapis how proud she’d been to be left in sole charge of a car wash was probably not a good idea, however much she claimed this wasn’t a mockery visit.

“Well, it  _ is _ just you here today.  You don’t have any customers, so surely you could close early.”

“No, I want to do this right, because Greg’s trusting me.  Besides, I had customers earlier.  Admittedly just for the drive-through auto-wash, but someone had to take their money and tell them to make sure all their windows were rolled up tight.”

“All right, then.  If you don’t want to leave I suppose I can stay.  So Greg can’t just spend the money?”  Lapis tucked her feet up to one side and looked more settled.

“Nope.  They don’t use gold and silver coins any more.  The stuff you found is worth more because it’s old and rare than because of the metals, I’m pretty sure.  Greg was really anxious about how he’d explain finding it when he doesn’t know exactly where the wreck was; he said he was going to fall back on acting really ditzy and implying he was snorkelling drunk.”   _ Thank you thank you thank you for giving me something so safe to talk about.   _ “He’s also really excited, though.  He’s been checking up on what similar stuff has gone for and this isn’t just going to be new van money, it’s also going to be finally getting his bad teeth fixed money, pay off all the debts money, college fund for Steven money, and then some left over for treats like a new computer and something called a moogerfooger.”

“What’s college and why does Steven need it?”

“It’s a really expensive kind of education, I think?  Greg isn’t sure Steven’s going to want it or need it but he wants him to have the option.  And another thing, he said he’s going to get me a phone so I don’t have to be here all the time when it’s slow.  He’ll just call me when he needs some help, so I’m free most of the time to do actual Crystal Gem stuff.  Or of course say sorry, Greg, doing actual Crystal Gem stuff here and then he’ll cope without me.”

“Wait a moment, in your list you left out dog bathroom.  I specifically told him about the dog bathroom.”

“That was really nice of you, but the thing is, the dog washing was a sideline he started up because he was getting into a hole financially and he was trying to think of any way to get more income.  He doesn’t want to end up running two businesses and this means he doesn’t have to.”

“But that’s not fair to you!” Lapis said indignantly.  “Half the point of the gift was so you could have what you wanted!  I’ll take it back if he’s going to be so selfish.”

“No, no, it’s okay.  You have to remember how this all got started.  I wanted to help Greg so he could provide for Steven and not suffer, right?  That was always the point and the dogs were just a bonus from my point of view.  And I’m still going to be walking some of them, and I don’t have to squeeze out anyone’s horrible impacted butt-glands any more.  I’m not losing out, I just get to shift to other things that are just as important to me or even more.  It always comes back round to taking care of Steven.”

“Well.  Yes.  Which doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him for messing up Steven’s healing powers, either.”  Lapis still looked mutinous.

“Okay, not his finest hour, but Greg’s a good person and Steven loves him.  Have we both done things - even to Steven - that we wish we hadn’t?”

“Yes,” Lapis said quietly.  “All right, point taken.  I can’t let this go any longer, what are you  _ wearing?” _

Jasper looked at her shirt, warm red and black chequered flannel.  She was wearing it open so that the car wash logo shirt was still visible underneath, with the sleeves turned up to just under her elbows.  “Well, the seasons are changing, and the people here are going into warmer clothes, and I don’t know, it’s not like I need the layers but it just looks kind of cosy and nice.  I bought this at the hardware store, which according to Amethyst is the gayest thing I’ve ever done in my life including Pearl, but there aren’t a lot of places that carry my size.”

“You’re so absolutely weird about clothes.  You and Peridot both.  Today she’s wearing a terrible thing called a utilikilt, and you, either you’re trying to look like a princess from a star war or like a - a -”  She gestured in frustration at the shirt.

“Lumberjack?”

“Whatever that may be!” Lapis agreed, a touch crossly.

Jasper shrugged one shoulder.  “Just trying something out.  Peridot’s got a theory about this, you know.”

“I’m sure she has.  What is it?”

“Her theory is that she and I’ve got a different relationship to Earth culture from all the rest of you because of the way we encountered it.  The other Crystal Gems have been like… observing and living alongside for all those thousands of years but not really being  _ in _ human culture.  And all of that was pre-Steven.  For her and me, there’s two key things that changed things for us, and one of them is Steven believing in us and wanting to give us a chance, and the other is something from human culture making us see things differently.  I mean, yes, she’s goofy about  _ Camp Pining Hearts _ but it started something really important for her.  And as for me -”

_ “Star Wars, _ I know,” Lapis said.

“It was actually  _ The Iron Giant.  Star Wars  _ was important too but  _ The Iron Giant _ felt like it was about  _ me. _  What I’d been made to be and what I didn’t want to be any more.  I couldn’t believe it at first, that a human could come up with a story that showed they understood me that well - and they didn’t even know me.  You kind of have to change your perspective after something like that.  I’m not human and I wouldn’t even want to be, but looking at Steven, and looking at how I feel, I just think there’s room for us to be together and mean something to each other however different we are - and for us to treat them like people, not just things that happened to be living on a planet we wanted to use.  Maybe that’s the way forward and maybe Steven’s the start of it.  I’d like to think that’s what Rose Quartz was going for.”

“You’re more of a philosopher than I tend to give you credit for,” Lapis said, resting her chin in her hand.

“Well, anyway, that’s why I can’t wear a SUN’S OUT GUNS OUT teeshirt.”

“But now you’ve completely lost me.”

“That’s okay, I think that part only makes sense to me.”  She risked leaning back on the slanted back of the lounge a little; it squealed but it didn’t feel like it would give way.

“What does Pearl think about the shirt?”

“She’s tolerating it.  She says it feels soft and nice when I hug her, anyway.  Thanks for, um, for sparing her last night.”

“Sparing her?  What do you think I was  _ doing _ to her?”

“No, no, I mean for doing without her for a while so I could see her.  Whatever you were doing you can go on doing it, she was pretty much glowing with happiness.”

“Oh, well.  So was I,” Lapis said, fairly modestly.  “That went better than I had any right to expect.  And some things I’d thought you must be exaggerating were exactly as you’d said or even more so.  I mean… ahem.”  She was blushing now, glancing away.  “I don’t know how you spent  _ your _ morning but mine included a two-hour cunnilingus lesson.”

A smothered laugh escaped from Jasper, buzzing her lips like a raspberry, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.  

“You can laugh, but  _ I _ received high praise, including a very silly pun about ‘summa cum laude’ which I’m not going to try to repeat because I didn’t exactly understand it.”

“How do you know it was a pun?”

“Because she kept giggling and begging me to forgive the pun, so I did, mostly because giggly post-orgasmic Pearl is  _ lethally _ adorable.”

“Oh yeah, weapons-grade,” Jasper agreed, smiling fondly.

“It’s… unexpectedly nice to be able to appreciate that together with you.  I do have some… not exactly jealous, but competitive feelings.”  Lapis sounded as if she was picking her words carefully, like someone stepping between puddles.  “I wouldn’t ever ask her to compare us because it wouldn’t be fair to put her on the spot like that, and I might not even like the answer, but I guess you’ve set a standard I’m trying to measure up to.”

“Don’t think about it like that,” Jasper said, dismayed.  “There’s no standard except whether Pearl’s happy, right?  If she’s giggling and making dorky puns I promise you she’s happy.  Or if there is a standard, Rose Quartz set it and you and I are just going to hurt ourselves trying to get there.”

_ “Rose,” _ Lapis said with an expressive roll of her eyes.  “The less said the better, particularly by me, I think.”

“Yeah, probably.”  Jasper leaned forward slightly.  “Did you  _ know _ Rose Quartz?  You were here at the right time to have met her, right?  I only got here when Yellow Diamond sent reinforcements, and by then the situation had gone critical.”

“I knew  _ of _ her, and I saw her around.  The last time I saw her was when she attacked Blue Diamond’s court, together with Pearl - and that was the day Garnet first appeared, so it was frightening and memorable from all sorts of angles.  I’m afraid I can’t shed any light based on that.  Mostly people were just bewildered and appalled that someone like her could turn like that.  They’d all thought she was so perfect.  Strong, smart, brave, beautiful, great hair, the whole deal.  If she’d stayed loyal she would have had everything -  _ and _ she was the infuriating type that makes everything look effortless.  I mean, I  _ looked _ effortless, because you had to; nothing repelled Blue Diamond more than trying too hard, but that took  _ constant  _ effort.”

“Maybe it did for her too,” Jasper suggested.  She hadn’t quite realised how envious Lapis was, on top of her jealousy.

Lapis crinkled her nose.  “Maybe.  I’m not all that interested in trying to understand her.  She made Steven, she’s dead, that’ll do.”

There was an uncomfortable pause.  “That came out meaner than I meant it,” Lapis said.  “It’s… a problem.”

“Yeah, let’s just talk about something else.”

“Hrrm.  Yes.  What do you think you’ll do with all your new free time?”

“Well, help out more with Crystal Gem business, like I said.  Go on missions, punch things.  Um… take Pearl somewhere nice.  Peridot cornered me this morning and said I ought to learn an instrument and she’s scientifically determined it’s the double bass…  I don’t think I’m gonna.”

“Pearl would like that, though.”

“Maybe.  Keep working on the water training.”

“Oh! I heard you fought the ocean last night.  How was that?”

“Lousy, thanks.”  Jasper couldn’t help smiling at the bright conversational tone Lapis had put on.  “Still, for self-inflicted trouble I got through it okay.  Are you still watching that show?  Did that Finn kid get over being scared of the ocean?”

“Oh, he did, actually.”

“What did he do?”

“It’s probably not something you can replicate without a cursed sword and a mysterious list from a dead hero.  The point was that he finally had a reason to go in that outweighed his fear, and after that the fear was gone, but it was more... phantasmagorical than that.  I questioned the psychological realism, put it that way, but it was beautifully animated.  The best part so far has been the  _ Stakes _ miniseries, all about Marceline and Bonnibel.  I absolutely loved that.  I would help you with the water training,” she added abruptly, “if you wanted me to.”

“That’s kind, but I think I need to deal with it by myself.”

“Connie and Steven help you.”  Lapis tipped her head to one side.  “I suppose it’s the combination, isn’t it?  The person who made you afraid of the water can’t really help you defeat that fear.”

“I don’t know.  The way we’re doing it is working pretty well so I don’t want to change it.”

“Mmm.  Fair enough.”  Lapis looked at her hands in her lap, pleating together the fabric of her skirt.

“The other thing I wanted to do with my free time was get back into wrestling with Amethyst.  I figured out a better name.   _ Liger Tycoon. _  It’s silly but it’s a lot of fun,” Jasper said hastily.  “You could come and watch.”

“It’s  _ probably _ not my kind of thing,” Lapis said.  “Though I appreciate being invited.”

“Oh, and finally finish sitting for that portrait, I really flaked out on Vidalia there.  I’ve got a lot to do.  I… hope I can spend more time with you too.  Not rushing anything, obviously.  Giving it time.  Letting it breathe.”

“It’s a good idea.  Listen… how much longer do you need to stay here?”

“Another couple of hours.  I’ll close at five.”

“I think I’m going to go and take care of a few other things, but I can come back to walk you home.”  Lapis got up, smoothing down her skirt.  “And listen… we don’t have to do this, we should only try it if we both want to, but Pearl gives her permission.  I mean, she actually wrote us a permission slip, because she’s Pearl.”  She produced a piece of folded paper, a little sheepishly.  “She says that it’s fine with her if we want to kiss hello and goodbye.  I - I asked for that.  But I understand if you don’t feel right about it yet, it’s just it’s a step we can take when we both think it’s a good time.  Please say something, I’m babbling.  And your face is one colour again.”

“Um.  Can I see?”  Another blush bomb had detonated and her ears were ringing with it.  She took the paper from Lapis’ hand, unfolded it and saw Pearl’s graceful writing.  It was just what she’d said.  She cleared her throat to buy time, somehow messed that up and coughed for real.   _ You come down here, tell me you went down on Pearl for two hours this morning and then suggest kissing me?  Am I going to taste her if I do?  Am I going to be able to  _ stop _ if I do?  And I’m getting all hot and wet and she’s standing there waiting, oh crap. _  “Kiss on the cheek?” she suggested desperately.  “Kind of an in between step?”

“All right,” Lapis said with a small nod.  “I’ll go first.”  She leaned in, closing her eyes, and placed a very soft kiss high on Jasper’s cheekbone.  She drew back, eyes still closed, waiting.

_ She’s going to feel me trembling.  To hell with it.   _ Jasper kissed Lapis’ smooth cheek before she could completely lose her nerve, or develop an overabundance of nerve and aim for the mouth.  

Lapis’ eyes flew open and her cheeks darkened.  “Your lips really are - um.  Right!  Good first kiss, well done all round, goodbye!”  She started to hurry away on foot, then abruptly opened out her wings, sprang into the air and flew out of sight.

_ I don’t get how she could be so calm and cool when I was the way I was yesterday but get like that about a kiss on the cheek. _  The place on her cheekbone that Lapis’ lips had touched felt as if it had a cartoon kiss-mark on it visible from ten feet away.  She was sure she  _ could _ get to her feet if she had to but it was a relief that right now she didn’t really need to.   _ What am I going to say to her when she comes back? _

_ Oh.  Duh.  I’m going to say hello and kiss her again, exactly like she wants. _  She felt a sudden uptick of confidence.  Why was she still thinking as if she had to be nervous?  She was basically in already; she had a written invitation, for goodness’ sake.   _ You can do this, you’re good at this - you’ve done a lot more of this particular thing than she has, remember?  I can be dashing and gallant and stuff, I can use my height, bend down to her with a sweep, pick her up like she weighs nothing, whatever.  About time she saw a little of the rest of me.   _

 

Then Lapis was late.  Jasper spun out the closing chores as long as she could so she wasn’t just waiting around by herself, but there was only so far they could be spun.  It was dark outside and if it hadn’t been so cloudy the stars might have been coming out.  She was starting to think Greg would show up before Lapis did, even though he’d said he was going to visit some old friends in the city and might not be back before morning.

She turned everything off, locked everything up and was just making up her mind to be deeply pissed off at being stood up when she heard a light, fast pattering of feet which abruptly stopped before Lapis appeared at the corner walking at a sedate pace.  By tremendous good luck she was already standing under a streetlight and could quickly lean back against it and try to look nonchalant and comfortable and well-lit.  The streetlight pole was ridiculously uncomfortable to lean on but she’d committed to it now.   _ I can smile at her now, she’s close enough. _

“Sorry I’m late,” Lapis said, stopping just in front of her.  She didn’t sound  _ terribly _ sorry but she was at least politely apologetic.  “I was helping Steven with a mess.  You’re done here, right?”

“Right.”  Jasper pushed off from the light pole, gently, easily, not too much  _ effort,  _ and dropped to one knee, bringing her face level with Lapis’ and very close to it, giving her best little just-us-confidential smile.  “Hello again.”  She closed the gap and kissed Lapis’ cheek, closer to her mouth than last time, lingered half a moment and then drew back to check the effect.  Lapis’ eyes were wide open, startled and almost indignant, and her cheeks had bloomed such a deep, dark blue that the tiny freckles of gold stood out brightly.  She took a breath, looked as if she wanted to say something, and abruptly darted forward -  _ retaliated, _ Jasper thought - grabbed the front of her shirt and kissed her firmly on the lips.   _ Oho, now you’re escalating?   _ Opening her mouth in response would have been that bit too much, but she closed her eyes and just returned the kiss sweetly, wondering whether she was more pleased by the thought of how good this would feel for Lapis or how much it would apparently tick her off.

Lapis pulled back, and Jasper gave her the slow blink that Lion would use in lieu of a smile.  “Hello yourself,” Lapis said.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What I’m pretty sure you want me to do.  Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong, but you’ve got a nerve.”

“Probably.”  She grinned and got up.  “Liking short girls is hard on the knees.  Shall we go?”

_ “Short.   _ On this planet I’m average,” Lapis said, turning with a crisp swirl of her skirt and heading back the way she’d come.

“You’re not average on any planet.”  Jasper adjusted her stride to keep pace.

“Why are you trying so hard to be charming?”

“Is it working?  Are you charmed?”

Lapis looked up at her, a small sharp face with big eyes gleaming in the shadow between streetlights.  “I could be a little,” she conceded.  

“Good!”

“We should hurry home.  Steven’s declared movie night again.  Something called  _ Milo and Otis.” _

“Ooh, I wonder if it’s as good as  _ Lilo and Stitch.” _

 

Steven’s  _ Milo and Otis  _ DVD turned out to be scratched from being loved too hard when he was younger, so he substituted  _ Homeward Bound: the Incredible Journey _ which, predictably, made both him and Jasper cry.  Lapis, who was really not immersed in the story, entertained herself by seeing how many tears she could whisk off their faces before they dripped off or were wiped off and flying them up to hang just under the ceiing, Steven’s tears to the right and Jasper’s to the left.

“What are you doing with those?” Pearl whispered.  She had been surreptitiously reading a book since shortly after the animals started journeying; both she and Lapis had surrendered the prime comfy spot of Jasper’s lap to Steven since he was so emotional, and because it kept the sogginess confined, and they had retreated to curl up in the corner of the couch with a blanket over their laps and their legs companionably entangled.  Amethyst and Peridot were off wreaking havoc in their own room and Garnet was out patrolling somewhere.

“I’m keeping score to see who’s the bigger cry-baby,” Lapis whispered back.

“Oh, don’t tease Steven - I think it’s  _ nice _ that he’s so open with his feelings.  I know you haven’t met many male humans but a lot of them are  _ incredibly _ tiresome about not showing any softer emotion - and to do him justice, Greg isn’t like that either.  I don’t want Steven to be embarrassed into stoicism.”

“Oh, all right.  I’ll tell them it’s just a science experiment, I was curious what kind of volume they were actually producing.  I actually am.  It’s weirdly impressive, not to mention the irony of Jasper producing all that salt water.”

The other thing was that the teardrop scorecard was keeping her occupied and not misbehaving.  She’d thought at first that the blanket over their laps might be a subtle invitation from Pearl and had begun hopefully stroking her thigh before having her hand gently but firmly moved back on top of the blanket.  Right, not in company, or at least not in Steven’s company, fair enough, even if he was sitting with his back to them and Jasper’s back behind that and not paying the slightest attention.  As much as she loved the idea of making Pearl melt with suppressed pleasure in a situation where she had to keep it absolutely quiet, she could see that getting caught like that would be the polar opposite of worth it.  It wasn’t like the old days when she’d once or twice got nabbed disgracing herself (or someone else) in semi-public and had been able to play it off as being a delightfully naughty little minx.

Still, Pearl had slipped off one of her shoes and her soft foot - were her socks silk? or just her special-occasion stockings? - kept stroking rhythmically against Lapis’ ankle, sending a steady warm current all the way through her body and making her mind, completely against her own inclination, try to write a poem with awful lines like “you’re the moon/I am the tide/please come inside.”

_ I remember when I was smart and cynical about this and knew there was something badly wrong with both of us.  I suppose there still is and I just can’t see it through all the rainbows and bubbles.  I want our lips to kiss and our limbs to entwine, let our bodies be twisted but never our minds…  One of these days I’ll find a way to get back at Jasper for getting that song stuck in my head. _  She leaned that head on Pearl’s shoulder, gazing up at the constellations of teardrops she had made under the rafters.

Eventually the movie was over, and Steven and Jasper were drying their eyes and Steven at least was blowing his nose.

“What is that?” Jasper asked, twisting the top of her body back towards the couch while wiping her face with a handful of paper towels from the kitchen roll.  She pointed to the gleaming drops clustered under the ceiling.  “You’re collecting tears now?”

“Well, it started out as a science experiment but now I think it’s more of an art project.  A portrait in tears of Steven and Jasper, suckers for a sad story with a happy ending.”

“It’s so pretty,” Steven said, sniffing.  “I like how they clump together like clouds.”

“I’ve been rearranging the shapes, and clouds were what I liked best in the end.  They can’t stay up forever, so if you like them appreciate them now.”

“Ooh, I’ll take pictures.”  He dug his phone out of his pocket and began clicking away.

“I mean just enjoy them as they are without trying to make them last.”

“I have been,” Pearl said, and squeezed her hand.

“What are you going to do with them?” Jasper asked, regarding them with some suspicion.

“I’m not going to dump them on your head.  I don’t know, probably just let them go down the sink.”

“Not yet!  One more!”  Steven was clambering  _ up _ Jasper to stand on her shoulders, clutching a handful of hair, and take some very wobbly video footage of the tear clouds.  “I want to show Connie.”

“Gaah.  How is someone so little so  _ heavy?” _ Jasper protested.  “Don’t put your knee in my ear!”

“Okay, done now!”  He hopped down with a thump and soothingly patted Jasper’s ear, wherever it was under all the hair.

“Seriously, could you guys feel the floor rattle when he landed?” Jasper asked.  “It’s like your mass is more than your size.  Can that be a thing?”

“I’m just a little bit hefty,” Steven said with dignity.

“No, it’s not a criticism, I mean I pick you up a  _ lot _ and you’re not normally this heavy.”  Jasper got to her feet and lifted him experimentally.  “You’re not any bigger, you’re just  _ denser _ or something.”

“That’s weird,” Steven said thoughtfully, his feet dangling.  “I don’t feel different to  _ me.” _

“And you  _ look _ the same to me,” Pearl said.  She disentangled herself from Lapis and the blanket and went over to inspect him.

“Here, feel,” Jasper said, passing Steven over.  She held Steven easily under the arms, despite her complaints about his heaviness; Pearl had to wrap both arms around his waist, and when Jasper let go her knees almost buckled.

“Steven!” she said, sounding shocked.  “You  _ are _ heavier!  Is it something you’ve eaten?”

“All I had today was peanut butter toast for breakfast and a doughnut for a snack and soup and crackers for lunch and some cheese and raisins in the afternoon and then you saw me have fried rice for dinner and I didn’t even have dessert yet.”

“Well, apart from the fact that you could have had a vegetable that doesn’t sound too bad,” Pearl said, setting him down.

“The soup was tomato!” Steven said indignantly.

“All right, I think the food is a red herring.  It really is strange, though; I can’t see how you could be this much heavier without being any  _ larger. _  I suppose the only thing to do is keep an eye on it.  You don’t feel any different at all?  No discomfort?”  She stood back and considered him with her chin in her hand.

“I felt fine till everyone started telling me I’m weirdly heavy.”  Steven pulled the hem of his shirt down.

“There’s nothing wrong with being heavy, I’m heavy as heck,” Jasper pointed out.  “If you use it the right way it’s an advantage, and if you team up with someone little and light and fast like Pearl or Connie you’ve got a good balance.”

“Lapis,” Pearl said, “what do you think?”

Lapis looked up from folding the blanket; she had dismissed the tear collection while the weight debate was going on.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “I mean, I honestly have no idea how Steven’s body works anyway.  You look fine to me, Steven.”

“Thank you!”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” Pearl said brightly.  “We’ll wait and see if anything develops.”

“Maybe you’re just getting stronger,” Jasper suggested.  “Muscle weighs more than fat, right?”

“I don’t  _ feel _ any more muscly,” Steven said, contemplating his belly.  “But maybe!”

“I bet that’s it.  You’re just growing up to be a bruiser like your mother.”  She gave him an affectionate thump on the back.

_ “Bruiser?” _ Pearl echoed faintly.  

“You know, big and strong and solid.  He’s a Quartz!  We’re beefy.”

“What if I’m a  _ little _ Quartz more like Amethyst?” Steven suggested.

“Then people will underestimate you - like I did - and you’ll take ‘em by surprise.  You’ll be great either way.”

Lapis took a certain dry amusement in the fact that while Jasper was trying to encourage Steven, her eyes kept darting to Pearl for approval, trying to find the angle on all this that would please her.

“I’ll sleep on it,” Steven said.  “Well, bathe on it then sleep on it.  Good night, you guys.”

“Good night,” they said, not quite in chorus.  He disappeared into the bathroom, and after the door clicked shut they heard water running.

“ _ Bruiser,”  _ said Lapis wryly, and swatted Jasper across the backside with the folded blanket.  “Nice one.”

_ “I _ would take it as a compliment,” Jasper said.  She didn’t seem to resent the swat too much; that was encouraging.

“It just has this connotation of a ruffian,” Pearl said uneasily.  “But don’t worry about it.”

“I, um, I wanted to ask,” Jasper said.  She dropped into a crouch, her arms resting on her knees.  “What do you want to do about tonight?  I mean, my room, your room, um…”

“This is why i want to make organisational charts,” Pearl said, steepling her fingers thoughfully.  “I’m not sure.  What would be best?”

“Well, you spent last night with me so if you wanted to go with Lapis tonight, that’d be fair.”

“But I got to spend lots of time with her during the day today, so really it’s your turn,” Lapis pointed out.  Jasper gave her a curious look.  “What?  I’m not letting you be more fair-minded than me.  Although,” she added hurriedly, “it’s not as if Pearl is a  _ thing  _ we can just take turns with.”

“So arm-wrestling you for her isn’t the answer,” Jasper said with a small smile.  “Damn.”  

“I’ll suggest this for now,” Pearl said.  “Say I spend tonight with Jasper, but Lapis, we plan to go out dancing together tomorrow night?  And then could I please make a chart?  Just a draft one, open to revision, promise.”

“If it makes you happy.”  Lapis put her arms around Pearl’s shoulders, dovetailing her fingers at the back of her neck and resting their foreheads together.  “And it  _ does _ give me something really wonderful to look forward to, and I suppose I  _ can _ occupy myself if I really  _ try.” _

“You could knit,” Pearl said with a sweet little giggle.

“I think I’ll go for a walk.  Knitting isn’t really me.  I love you.”

“I love  _ you.” _  Pearl wrapped her arms around Lapis’ waist and pulled her into a kiss.

 

Jasper was still working out her manners for when Pearl and Lapis kissed.  She felt like kind of an intruder, but the fact they did it right in front of her seemed to say that it was fine for her to see.  It was something she kind of  _ liked _ to see - they looked so pretty and Pearl was plainly so happy - her feet almost couldn’t keep still, as if they were trying to dance - but  _ watching _ as opposed to just seeing felt a little bit pervy.

Then they were separating, and Lapis was giving her a sidelong look as if she definitely considered her attention a little bit pervy, but she was smiling slightly too.  “You get one too,” she said lightly, “since we’re saying goodbye for now.”  She placed her chilly little hands on Jasper’s too-warm cheeks and kissed her lips, not as avidly as she’d just kissed Pearl but a little bit more than politely.

“Bye, then.”  

“Bye, bruiser.”  Lapis slipped away, out the door to the night.

“Was that all right?” Pearl asked, coming over and hugging Jasper’s arm, leaning against her.  “I’m fairly sure she’s just being playful.”

“Yeah, she is.  It feels different from when she’s really got a chip on her shoulder.  And hey, she called me something I just said I’d consider a compliment.”

“I thought smacking your bottom might have been just a smidge too far.”

“I hope it didn’t bother you, but it really didn’t bother me.  She’s just testing out what she can get away with, little brat.”

“Brat and bruiser.  Interesting endearments.  It’s an education watching you two flirt.”

“I don’t know  _ what _ we’re doing, but I’m getting kisses and butt-slaps instead of kicked in the shins, so I’m pretty pleased.”

“Psst.”  Pearl leaned in, whispering against her cheek.

“Psst?”

“Special request.”

“Oh good, I  _ take _ special requests.”

“Stand up.”

“That’s not very special, but okay.”

“Here’s the special part.  Hop!”  Pearl jumped up into her arms, confident Jasper would catch her.  “And now carry me to bed like a princess?  Pretty please?”

“Oh, like I’m going to say no!”

The carrying-like-a-princess fell apart a little when she had to juggle Pearl and balance her on her hip for a moment (giggling) to get the door of her room open and slam it behind them, but once they were inside it was easy to drop Pearl on the bed (giggling more) and clamber on astride her to shower kisses all over her glowing face.  Pearl was still giggling breathlessly up to the point when their lips met, and then she was silent and intent, sucking Jasper’s tongue into her mouth as she wrapped her legs around her and arched against her body.  It was a long, sweet, heated moment before they broke apart, panting.

“Lapis didn’t tire you out any, then.”

“No, did you want her to?”

_ “No. _  You’ve got scary stamina, I love it.  What does my princess want?”

“Ummm…” Pearl rolled her eyes upward, pretending to be thinking hard.  “Couldn’t possibly say.”  She burst into giggles again as Jasper mock-worried at her neck, growling.  “You’re such an animal.  Such a lovely animal.  I sort of want you to eat me up.”

“Rrrr.”  Jasper grinned at her fiercely and began licking her neck in rough upward strokes as Pearl phased away her clothes.  Licking upward but travelling downward, she worked her way to Pearl’s chest, making the most of the fullness of her lips as she sucked her nipples, melting her giggles into crooning little coos of pleasure.  Pearl combed her fingers into Jasper’s hair, gently scratching her head and shifting her play-growl into a purr.  There were blue-green love-bites on Pearl’s breasts that she hadn’t made, dainty little ones to match Lapis’ little mouth, or like the ones Pearl would leave on her, brick-red and tingling.   _ I don’t know why I like that but it looks like I do. _

“So nice,  _ so _ nice,” Pearl breathed.  “Keep going… ooh, just  _ devour _ me.”  Her left hand clutched at Jasper’s hair while she groped about with the right until she found one of Jasper’s hands and pulled it up to her mouth.  It always made Jasper smile, even with her own mouth full, how Pearl would just yank her to where she wanted her, as if the differences between them didn’t even exist and it was the most normal thing in the world.  And now she was sucking her fingers, getting them wet, glancing down at Jasper with dreamy, half-lidded eyes just to make sure she got the idea before she tucked her hand down between her thighs and gave it an encouraging little pat.  Jasper hitched herself up a bit to kiss her mouth again as she pressed gently on Pearl’s soft little mound.

“Just checking, do I need to be gentler than usual?  I know you’re not tired but you could be sore.”

“Why would I be sore?”

“I don’t know, you get kind of tender if we overdo it, and according to Lapis she was going down on you for two hours solid this morning.”

“Oh, that little show-off!”  Pearl sounded proud of her.

“Not true?”

“Well, not  _ solid. _  I gave her breaks!   _ I _ needed breaks.  Anyway, she was so enthusiastic and - and assiduous.  Ah…”  She spread her legs wider, tilting her hips as Jasper’s fingertip slipped between her lips, sliding steadily up and down in the smooth wetness.

“Hold on, I need to get comfortable.  I want to do this for a while.”  She propped herself on her other elbow, Pearl’s head resting against the inside of her forearm so that Jasper’s hand cupped and framed the side of her face.

“Oh  _ goodie.” _  Pearl turned her head to kiss Jasper’s palm, wriggling her shoulders with glee, catching her breath sharply at a nudge against her clitoris.  “Press in there, please?  Oh…”  She rolled her hips, working against the soft pad of Jasper’s fingertip.

“I love that look you get.”

“What look?”

“It’s very, um, very  _ focused.   _ Intensely focused horniness.  Nothing gets in the way, everything’s how you feel and how much you want this.  Your eyes get all hazy and your lips tremble and shine… it looks good on you.”

“I - ah -”  Pearl trailed off, panting, her hips pumping now.  She grabbed a handful of the blanket under her and another of Jasper’s hair as she moved faster, biting her lip.

“Want me to just keep giving you something to rub on, or want me to rub back?”

“Rub back.  Round and round.”  Pearl gave a tiny, high-pitched grunt, working against her harder, her teeth set and sweat springing out on her skin in glistening dots.  Jasper licked them from the side of her neck and growled gently by her ear, and felt her whole body twitch.  Pearl was  _ trying _ to talk to her now, and probably “like” or “love” was in there somewhere but between the stammering and the panting it was more of a “la-la-la.”  She hitched in a deep breath and managed to say, “Inside me, please.”

“Here it is.  Like this?”  She pressed down, and in, and felt yielding and sliding and Pearl’s delicate little pussy opening up greedily.  Her face bloomed with pleasure, eyes closing and mouth dropping open while Jasper’s finger slid deeper, following the curve inside her.  “That’s where you need it, right?”

“Yes-yes-yes-yes.”  Pearl moaned deep in her throat as she kissed her, beginning a slow, steady stroke in and out.  She drew back to watch Pearl’s lovely face, flushed and shining, brushing her hair back from her damp cheek with the side of her thumb.  She liked to enjoy the initial trembly reaction while it lasted; it was so flattering.  Pearl would get a little calmer soon, reaching a kind of plateau, and then she would definitely want more kissing, but for the moment she was completely lost in her sensations.  Jasper kind of loved being both the one to put her in this helpless, abject state and the one who would take care of her while she rode it out.

“That’s it,” she murmured as Pearl quivered, “that’s good, isn’t it?”  It didn’t really matter if she didn’t say anything interesting; according to Pearl she could be reciting the periodic table at this point, it was just hearing her voice at this stage that was wonderful.  (Pearl had  _ requested _ the periodic table once because she thought that would be interesting but she could never remember anything past neon.)  She just tried to keep talking, even if it meant she ended up saying something weird.  “That’s it, that’s my princess, that’s my soft pretty pussy princess.”  That was awful, she was going to end up giggling, Lapis  _ definitely  _ couldn’t ever hear her say something as dumb as that, but Pearl was coming already, one of those deep, silent, forget-to-breathe orgasms of hers, so maybe it had even helped?  

Pearl relaxed, soft as jelly, and started to breathe again, softly and rapidly, little flutters and twitches still going gently through her body.  Her hold on Jasper’s hair loosened too, which was a relief, and she opened her eyes, giving her a rather dazed smile.

“I didn’t expect it to go that quickly,” she said faintly, “but oh, it was lovely.  Please, keep your hand right here.”

“I know.”  Jasper kissed her, a soft light kiss since she must be fairly overwhelmed.

“What was that you called me?”  Pearl asked, her mouth curling at the corners.

“Can’t remember.”

“I  _ think _ it was something about me being pretty.”

“Oh yeah, I remember that.  That’s just telling the truth.”

“Lucky would also be true.  I’m such a lucky Gem.  There are still times when I’m shocked that this is real… but here you are.”

“Here I am.”  She kissed the bridge of Pearl’s nose.

“I’m just going to luxuriate in afterglow for a few minutes more before I stir myself to return the favour.”

“Good.  I’ll watch.”

Pearl laughed softly, a warm little  _ hm-hm-hmm.   _ “Oh… I’m enjoying things with Lapis so much, because it’s new and thrilling and I adore her, but coming back to you just reminds me how beautifully we seem to fit together.”

“You really think so?  I mean, we  _ are _ great together but I always think that’s in spite of how much we  _ don’t _ fit.”

“Mmm… maybe.”

“Aren’t you and Lapis a better fit in a lot of ways?  I mean, you can do more stuff mutually, right?  Things… line up.”

“That’s true.  That’s a nice thing with her, but it’s not something I feel a lack of with you.  I’m so pleased about that.  I was worried I wouldn’t be able to avoid invidious comparisons.  I’ve foreseen  _ so _ many ways I could make this all go wrong, knowing what I’m like, but so far -  _ so  _ far - I’ve behaved pretty well.”

“How about me, am I behaving well?”

_ “I _ think so.  Then again, I’m making all this up as I go.”

“With charts and permission slips?”

“If nothing else, this relationship will be  _ organised.   _ I thought it was so sweet that Lapis wanted to start kissing you.”

“Yeah, remember how we thought we’d just try to be friends?   _ That _ didn’t last.”

“What was it like the first time?  Oh, or if that’s a private memory, never mind.”

“Better than our first try, I guess.  The second time was still better.  Second time was really kind of fun.”

“First times do suffer from expectations.  I wasn’t all that happy with my first kiss with Rose, either.  That was actually the first kiss between two Gems.  Ever.  She wanted so much to try it and, well, I didn’t want her to have to find someone else.  It’s daunting to know that you’re making history, and then we bumped noses.  No, it was worse, Rose had such a cute little button nose, and I managed to put the tip of my nose  _ up _ her nose.  Oh, I’d forgotten that part!  I was mortified.  She persuaded me to persevere, though, and it was worth it.”

_ “Your _ nose is cute.  Your snoot.  It’s a cute snoot.”

“That must be why she tolerated its intrusion.  Thank goodness I can’t do that to you.”  She drew Jasper’s head down with gentle hands and kissed her with practised ease.  “My lovely Jasper.  Shall we turn over?”

“Okay.  You want me on my back?”

“Yes, please.”  She shifted with her to sit astride Jasper’s belly, gazing down at her with avid appreciation.  “And clothes off, please.”

“Damn, hang on.  The shirts are real, I need to sit up.”

“This is what you get for wearing silly things.  Delays.”  Pearl slipped back to sit on the bed between Jasper’s legs, watching her as she struggled out of them.  “Just a moment before you take off the rest.”

“Yeah?”

“This is what Lapis saw, isn’t it?  You soaking through your clothes?”  She slid her hands along the inner curve of Jasper’s thighs, up to the top, running her thumbs up and down over the warm damp patch in the fabric.

“I was nothing  _ like  _ this wet when she saw me.  She really only had the preview.”

“But would it be true that you enjoyed showing her?” Pearl asked with a knowing little smile.

“... yeah.  Yeah, I think you know I did.  Like I’m enjoying showing you now.”

“You’re proud of your pussy, aren’t you?”

“Um.  Yes.”

“I love how even after what we’ve just done, you can still blush.”

“Lapis always teases me about my face turning one colour.”

“Well, if she didn’t remember to say what a lovely face it is, that was remiss of her.”

“Pearl?  Can I take my clothes off now?”

“Why are you so keen to do that?”

“Because… it’s just like you said, I’m proud of my pussy and I want to show it to you.  I want to show off for you.”  This kind of recitation, with Pearl prompting her, always made her tingle and burn, and she could feel herself getting wetter still, liquid heat leaking from inside her.

“I think that would be lovely.  Go on.”  Pearl dovetailed her fingers under her chin, expectantly.

When she was this excited it was difficult to phase her clothes away smoothly, and they dissolved in patches until she was fully exposed.

“Show me properly,” Pearl said, her voice warm and encouraging.  “You have such pretty, curly hair but it’s covering everything.”

“Right.” She parted it with her fingers, smoothing it back.  It always got more curly when it was damp, and then it tangled more.  She made a V of her fingers, spreading her labia apart, feeling her cheeks and lips burn with that strange kind of embarrassed pride this always gave her, offering herself.  

“That’s perfect,” Pearl said softly.  “Just beautiful.  Show me how you like to touch yourself.”

“But you know -”

“I  _ know,  _ but  _ show _ me, silly.”

“I like to rub my clit like this.  I - I’m getting so wet with you watching me, it’s a little gross.”

“No it’s not, it’s lovely.  Do you want to show this to Lapis as well?”

She bit her lip, sliding two fingers either side of her clitoris and squeezing it between them.  “Yes.”

“She does like wet things.”  Pearl looked up at her with a wicked little twinkle and she gave a breathless snort of laughter,

“Oh shit…”

“Language, darling.”

“Sorry, sorry, this feels so good.”

“I can see that on your face.  You’re so absolutely beautiful when you’re feeling this kind of pleasure.”

“Do you want me to come for you like this?”

“Oh, not yet.  You’d better slow down a bit.”

“O-okay.”  This was one of the hardest things Pearl would ask her to do, tease herself without rushing headlong for an orgasm.

“I hope you know I’d enjoy showing you off too.  Displaying you to her, inviting her to enjoy you too.”

“Ngh.”

“Would you like to dress up for that?  Ribbons in your hair, wearing something soft and pretty and flimsy, silk stockings?”

“Yes please.”

“Preparing for it will be such fun, won’t it?  I’m imagining you playing with yourself while I do your hair.  Kneeling in front of the mirror here in your room.”

“Sounds kind of vain.”

“No, I don’t think it’s vain just to enjoy how beautiful you are and anticipate what a wonderful time you’re about to have.”  Pearl got to her feet and leaned in to kiss her, tracing the curves of her lips with the tip of her tongue.  “Why, you’d feel like a soft, pretty pussy princess, wouldn’t you?”

“I was  _ very _ horny when I said that so it shouldn’t be held against me.”

“But I loved it.  Couldn’t that be our little joke, that the one who’s the focus of all the lovemaking is the pussy princess?”

“I don’t know, it’s embarrassing.”

“Which, from you, could easily mean that you love it and can’t wait to do it.”  Another soft, wet kiss.  “What if I tell Lapis you’re the pussy princess?”

“Okay no, seriously don’t do that.”  She didn’t even know if Lapis would think that was funny or cute or weird or gross or what, and she wasn’t about to try it out on her until she was at least 99% sure.

“Then I promise I won’t.”  Pearl kissed her cheek.  “And thank you for telling me so clearly that I was taking that line of teasing too far.”

“It’s not really too far, it’s too soon.”

“Talk about it later so you don’t go off the boil now?”

“Good idea.”

“May I take over?”

_ “Great  _ idea.”

“Lie back, my darling, I want you to be comfortable.”

Jasper pulled a couple of pillows in behind her first, to make it easier to watch.  Pearl knelt between her spread thighs and bent forward to kiss her mound, nuzzling into the tangle of curls before pushing them back and kissing the hood of her clitoris.  “I think,” she said, with her lips so close to Jasper’s skin that the words buzzed and tickled, “you’d like me to concentrate here, wouldn’t you?  Rather than inside, today?”

“Fff… yes, please.”

Pearl began by softly licking all around and over it, and it felt sweet and ticklish but she was dying for her to get to something stronger.   _ Just be patient,  _ she told herself,  _ enjoy it bit by bit, you know she’ll take such good care of you.   _ Soft, smooth hands were massaging her vulva (the little wet smacking sounds were sweetly humiliating) and now, oh, now Pearl was sealing her lips over her clitoris and gently sucking, still working with her tongue.  She sank into the pillows with a feeble little gasp, overwhelmed by fierce delight.

“I love that - I love you - oh…”

She couldn’t ever  _ just _ lie there while Pearl made love to her because she couldn’t ever keep still; her hips rose and fell as her buttocks tightened and relaxed and her heels dug into the mattress, and it felt as if she didn’t even do these things, they just happened because nothing else could happen when she could feel this.  Pearl was gently humming to her, and her body was thrumming in response, and she lost all track of how long it took, only how luxuriously, gloriously good it felt.  She came with a deep, joyful shudder, rolling through her like a shockwave that faded to a soft, weak tremor.  She lay still and basked in warmth, Pearl lying on top of her, doodling little fingertip patterns on her chest and humming an idle, contented tune.  

“Mrmm.”  She lifted one arm to hold Pearl, her hand cupping her bottom and her thumb stroking up and down in the small of her back.

“Is that the sound of placid contentment I hear?” Pearl asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“You made such interesting sounds on the way, too.  Sometimes you mew like a kitten.”

“Well, I’m very cute.  Right?”

“Right.”  Pearl beamed down at her.  “Are you sleepy?”

“Not yet, just really calm and happy.  Enjoying you lying on me.”

“What we talked about…”

“Which part?”

“About dressing you up to show off for Lapis.  I’m curious, would you like to really plan that?  Tentatively, of course, no definite time in mind… but I thought it might be nice when we all feel ready.”

“It’s… kind of funny, because it’s not as if I don’t want it to go that way, but I don’t remember ever  _ deciding _ that we’ll all get together.”

“Oh.  You sound a bit ambivalent,” Pearl said.  

“It just doesn’t feel like a sure thing.  I love thinking about it and talking about it with you, but I’m not sure how it’ll really work.”

“Nor am I.  I have to admit that I’ve wondered if I want it to happen because it seems tidy and convenient, and I want to hurry it up so things will be settled.  It sounds like the sort of thing I’d do.  It’s a good thing both of you are more sensible.”

“We’re not  _ that  _ sensible.”

“Is there anything you  _ would _ like to plan?  Not necessarily anything sexy or romantic.  We could just be sociable and go somewhere nice together.  I could show both of you some of my favourite places on Earth.”

“I’m in.”

“Ooh, good.  I’ll discuss it with Lapis, and if she’s keen too I’ll think of an itinerary.  Oh, this will be lovely!  I’m so glad I thought of it.  Well,  _ if _ Lapis wants to go.”

“If she’s like me she’ll just want to go where you’re going.  But then, she isn’t a lot like me.”

“But you shouldn’t agree to go just because I suggest it.  I don’t want to drag you around all day if you’re only being obliging.”

“I’m not a pushover, I want to go.  I really love seeing you get all enthusiastic about things, so a Pearl World Tour with you telling us all about why these places are your favourites sounds great.  You’ll be really flipping cute, I’ll learn a thing or two because if I hear enough at least some of it sticks, and we’ll both have a good time.  And I know Lapis likes that about you too.”

“She’s mentioned it,” Pearl said, half coy and half smug.  “I call this an excellent tentative plan.”  She sat up astride Jasper and stretched with her arms above her head.  

“That wasn’t a real stretch, that was an I-want-to-look-sexy stretch, and I know because that’s my go-to move.”

“I know, and the funny thing is it still works, doesn’t it?”

“A lot of things work when you’re sitting on me naked, you know.”

“Well, I suppose so, but tell me the stretch helped.”

“The stretch was great.  I was deeply impressed and appropriately turned on.”  

“Show me,” Pearl said, sinking down to kiss her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An odd disjointed chapter which concludes with a philosophical insight from Amethyst.

Jasper drifted awake to the sound of low voices.  Pearl… and Lapis?  What was Lapis doing here?  She lay still, listening and drowsily hoping to understand.  They were on the bed beside her.  She hadn’t woken because of their voices, which were considerately quiet, it was because she was too warm.  She had gone to sleep with the blanket over her legs and up to her waist, the way she liked it, but now she was tucked in up to her shoulders.   _ Oh, right.  Pearl covered me up because Lapis is here.  But why is Lapis here? _

They were talking about music and dancing, about their ideas for their Winter Moon show with a lot of arty jargon she didn’t understand.  She was still turning round in her head whether she should feel bad for eavesdropping or they should feel bad for Lapis being there uninvited.  Or was it all right if it felt kind of provisionally comfortable?  They were just talking; okay, they could talk.  She didn’t want to bother them, and she would probably fall asleep again if she just relaxed and didn’t think too much about anything.

_ It still smells like sex in here.  That’s pretty embarrassing.   I think I can get my arm away from them out of the blanket without disturbing them though.  That’s better. _

“It actually sounds interesting,” Lapis was saying.  “She’s not very good at it yet, but she played me some recordings of what it’s supposed to sound like and I’d consider including it.”

“I hadn’t really thought about using electronic music, but I’d like to encourage Peridot to develop an artistic interest.”

“Oh, and she wants Jasper to play the double bass.”

“Jasper would  _ look _ wonderful with a double bass.  You can safely say that.”

“Jasper would still look pretty hot with an  _ accordion, _ it’s not a fair test,” Lapis said.  

“What’s wrong with accordions?”

“They’re just stupid-looking.  It’s not their fault.  So it’s all right if I tell Peridot we’re interested?”

“It’s fine.  It’ll be very - eclectic.  The violin piece for Connie is coming along nicely, so we can work Peridot’s contribution in around that.  Although, knowing her, she’ll probably decide that she’s the star of the show and the rest of us are working around her.”  They both laughed, a soft affectionate sound, surprisingly intimate.   _ If I were Lapis I’d want to kiss Pearl now.   _

“Good.  Now the only thing I’m worried about is if Blue decides to abandon our choreography and spend the whole time grinding on that water-Jasper she made.  She gets that from you, you know.”

_ “I _ don’t make things out of water, my dear, you have to take some responsibility.  Anyway, I think she’s too professional to do that - at least not in front of people.  If we rehearse tomorrow - no, tonight she might not be very professional.”

“You’re the expert.  Do you think she’s so attracted to Jasper just because we both are, or does she feel that way independently?”

“I think it can happen either way.  It’s never actually come up with any of my other fusions, so I’m not an expert at all.”

“If she starts actually making a move - with the real Jasper, I mean, she can do what she wants with that water dolly - I think we should split up to stop her.  This is complicated enough without bringing a fourth person into it.”

“Oh, agreed.  I don’t even know how Jasper would feel about it.  That’s the other side of your question, I suppose; would Jasper be automatically attracted to Blue because she’s the fusion of both of us, or is she a different proposition?”

“I wonder if it makes a difference that Blue’s bigger than her.  She might not like that.”

“That’s true… on the other hand, she might enjoy being the little one for a change.  But let’s leave well enough alone for now.  We have plenty to deal with as it is.  I’m so glad your kissing hello and goodbye idea is taking off well.”

Lapis made a self-conscious little sound, clearing her throat.  “It’s nice so far.  Still a little bit strange, but getting more comfortable.”

“But isn’t she wonderful to kiss?”

“I thought you had to be exaggerating a little bit about how soft her lips feel but they’re sort of amazing.  I almost said something the first time but I got so embarrassed I had to leave in a hurry.”

“Oh, sweetheart!”

“It would have turned out stupid.  Better not to say anything until I can say it calmly.”

_ Who says eavesdroppers never hear anything good about themselves?  But I  _ will _ feel bad if I let them keep going not knowing I can hear.  I’m getting more awake instead of going back to sleep.  I’m just gonna roll over and hug Pearl like I would anyway. _

When she did she was a little bit startled to find her wearing her own red and black shirt.  Putting on actual clothes really wasn’t like Pearl.  That was nothing compared to how startled Lapis looked to see her awake.  She’d been lying on her side facing Pearl and she bolted up into a sitting position and almost fell off the side of the mattress; Pearl saved her by quickly grabbing a handful of her skirt.

“Oh, you’re up!” Pearl said, looking back over her shoulder with a smile.  “I hope you didn’t mind my tucking you in but it seemed like the right thing to do; you looked so comfortable I didn’t want to wake you up to say Lapis was here and you might want to cover up.”

“No, I don’t mind.  What are you doing here?” she asked Lapis, sitting up.  “I mean, it’s not a problem you’re here but I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I just… I got bored, and lonely, and I remembered Pearl saying that you sleep most of the night and she just watches over you or potters around, so I thought I’d just come down and if everything was quiet I’d knock and see if we could talk.”  Lapis looked both guilty and somewhat sweaty about this.  “Just to talk, nothing sneaky.  Pearl thought it would be all right.”

“It is, but - look, Pearl, I know you were just being nice, letting me sleep, but next time wake me up, okay?”  She kissed the top of Pearl’s head to soften that.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”  Clearly the softening hadn’t worked; Pearl looked really dismayed.

“I said it’s okay.  Here, look at me, do I look upset?”

“No, but still, I should have thought.  This is  _ your _ room, not mine.”

“Still not upset.  Curious, though, why are you wearing my shirt?”

“Oh, um.”  Pearl straightened up and tried to adjust it; even with the top collar button done up it was trying to escape off her shoulder.  “I - I thought when you woke up you might think I looked cute in it.”

“You look fantastic, but there’s room for two or three of you in there.  Aren’t you scared you’ll get lost?”

“You could always come in after me.”  Pearl relaxed and smiled a little.

“Come here.”  Jasper pulled her in and hugged her again.   _ She’s not wearing anything under that.  Okay, if Lapis wasn’t here I’d definitely go in after her.  But she’s trying to look cute for her too, isn’t she?  Otherwise she’d just have got dressed before she let her in.  This stuff has layers.  Oh my stars imagine if Lapis was wearing my other shirt - no.  Come on, Lapis wouldn’t wear my cruddy old work teeshirt on a bet.  I should put something on.  I don’t want to get  _ all  _ dressed, but I can do something.   _ It was easy enough to phase into a plain white shirt of her own making, and as an afterthought a pair of short pants basically like Pearl’s, since it was always easier to copy than to invent.  Not much point covering her top and still having a bare backside.

“I can go,” Lapis said.  “I mean I should go.”

“You don’t have to.  Come on, why leave when Pearl looks so cute?  And anyway, where’s my kiss hello?”

“Oh for goodness’ sake, it doesn’t mean I  _ have _ to kiss you every time I see you.  Where’s the fun in that?”

“Well, okay, I don’t want it to be a  _ duty _ kiss.”

“And I have manners!  I’m not just going to -  _ clamber  _ over Pearl.”  Her cheeks were indigo and her speckles stood out like flecks of gold leaf; the effect was breathtakingly pretty even if it was mostly because she was annoyed.

“Oh, I don’t mind!” Pearl said, sitting up again.  “Well, no, don’t clamber but if you say ‘excuse me’ -”

“Excuse me,” Lapis said, somehow contriving to flounce across the bed on her knees.  She planted her hands on Jasper’s cheeks - they felt warm this time - and kissed her very firmly, as if to say “so there.”  “Hello,” she added, pulling back and smiling triumphantly, before sitting back on her heels with a little “flump” sound.

“Ahem,” Pearl said, raising one finger.  “Excuse me, if I may - and I’m saying this only because I want to help you get the most out of the experience - that isn’t quite the best way to kiss Jasper.  I understand why you’d feel you need to be firm, but she responds so well to gentleness that it really is worth your while.  See?  Like this.”  She slid her hand under Jasper’s hair to hold the back of her neck and breathed against her lips a moment before very lightly kissing the upper lip, then the lower, then nuzzling in for a heavy, soft, wet kiss that lasted several long seconds and was followed by a last tiny little smooch before she drew back.  “You can see how much she liked  _ that. _  Do you want to try?”

“Jus’second,” Jasper managed to say.  Her head was buzzing and she was dizzy with the sudden intensity of her arousal.   _ Pearl teaching Lapis what to do to me, oh  _ fuck  _ yes, this is amazing.   _ There was still just enough common sense active for her to be not terribly sure she wanted to do that straight away, and she thought if she gave it a moment it might be able to explain to her why not.  Right, right.  Lapis, probably not ready.  Herself, maybe not ready either but too horny to tell the difference.

“I don’t think she wants me to,” Lapis was saying with a nervous, dismissive little laugh.

“No, I really do!  I just have to catch my breath.”

“This is normal,” Pearl said reassuringly.  “She gets a bit overwhelmed at times.”

“From you _ kissing _ her?”

“She’s very sensitive.  And, well, she’s excited by being put on display.  That was a bit naughty of me.”  Pearl pulled the cuff of Jasper’s shirtsleeve over her hand and dabbed at the corner of her mouth.

“Are you going to go that weird if  _ I _ try to kiss you like that?  Seriously?”  Lapis eyed her suspiciously, although she looked tempted to smile.

“I don’t know.  How’re you going to find out?”  Temptation wasn’t a problem; Jasper knew she already had a stupid lopsided grin on her face.

“Hold still then, and don’t say anything silly and mess me up.”  Lapis bobbed up on her knees again, twisted her hand into the neckline of Jasper’s teeshirt, and pulled her in.  It was really quite weird to feel Lapis trying to imitate a Pearl kiss.  All the differences stood out, especially the way she could feel, and it kind of shocked her to feel, Lapis’ inexperience.  She had some confidence and good reason to feel it, but still, she wasn’t sure about everything she was doing.  It was sort of equal parts hot and vulnerable, and the sudden jab of feeling protective made her pretty sure she wasn’t going to do anything too stupid after all.  She still enjoyed every bit of it, particularly her first brief taste of Lapis’ tongue.  By the end of it Lapis looked as pleasantly flustered as she felt.  She let go of her handful of shirt, sat down and said, rather faintly, “Wow.”

“Wasn’t my advice absolutely right?” Pearl demanded gleefully, bouncing somewhat.  “And I’m  _ very  _ happy to report that seeing you two kiss is one of my new favourite things.  Honestly, what a relief.”

“You okay?” Jasper asked Lapis, who was looking somewhat perturbed now.

“I feel weird,” she said, fidgeting, pulling at her fingers.   _ “Really _ weird.”

“Oh.”  She was a little crestfallen.  “Sorr-”

“No, wait, I need to check something,” Lapis said, cutting her off.  She bobbed up, more or less grabbed Jasper’s head with both hands and kissed her again urgently before dropping back in place.  She looked up at Jasper’s startled face, blinked and began to laugh.

“What?” Jasper demanded, stung.  It wasn’t exactly a mean laugh but there was still no call for it in her opinion.

“Lapis, dear, what is it?” Pearl asked anxiously.

“Oh - oh, this is so stupid,” Lapis said, shaking her head and grinning all over her face.  “I know why that felt  _ weird. _  It felt weird because it just felt  _ good. _  I was just honestly enjoying it and nothing else.  Congratulations, Jasper, that’s a first in your company!”  She began to laugh again, so much that she fell back with her head in Pearl’s lap, giggling helplessly.  It wasn’t a mean laugh, Jasper realised, because it was a laugh of sheer happiness and relief.  She felt a sudden swell of affection for Lapis, lying there floppy and gasping with laughter, with all the poise and caution gone from her body.  Pearl was giggling too, hugging Lapis under the chin and kissing her forehead, calling her a little jellyfish.  She really wanted to get in on that too but couldn’t see how without an excessive risk of headbutting Pearl.  Next best would have been to kiss Lapis’ bare tummy and feel her laughter bubbling through the skin, but she had a feeling that would get her a reflex knee in the neck.  They were both so damn cute that she could only sit there beaming at them like a fool.

Lapis was calming down, giggles fading into little breathy sighs, and Pearl was stroking back her hair and asking in her soft, sweet, extremely persuasive voice, “Do you think you’d like to see what else Jasper might be able to do for you?”

“It’s not that I  _ don’t,”  _ Lapis said thoughtfully, catching Pearl’s hand and holding it to her cheek, “but I don’t want to push my luck.  That was so nice I just want to let it be for a while, and not try to top it.”  

“Oh,” Pearl said, a bit wistfully.  “If that’s what feels best then of course that’s what you should do.”

“Is that all right?” Lapis asked, levering herself back to a more or less upright sitting position and looking up at Jasper again.  “Does it at least make sense?”

“Kissing me was so great you don’t want to kiss me again for a while?  Nah,” she said, relenting, “I get it, I think you’re being pretty smart about it.  It’s really exciting to hit a point where you’re comfortable but I don’t want to overshoot that point.”

“Well, not just comfortable.  That sounds so lukewarm.  I probably made it sound back-handed when I  _ want _ to say - I mean, you know how weird I am about you.  How I want to be close to you but I have to make myself  _ tolerate _ being close because I’ll start to feel trapped or afraid of you or disgusted with myself.  Just then I - I somehow got round all that and I  _ was _ close to you and I knew you wanted me there and I loved it.  That’s pretty close to what I mean.”

“Is it pushing our luck if I want to hug you again?  Because that’s the mushiest thing you’ve ever said and you know how I am about mush.”

“I think our luck can stand that much of a push.”  Lapis got to her feet, wobbled slightly on the mattress, and bent to hug her round the neck.  “You’ll notice I’m not even reversing up to you.  Assuming you keep a diary, you should definitely write about this in it.”

“I keep a diary,” Pearl piped up.

“I know  _ you _ do,” Lapis said, sounding amused.  “I’ve seen the  _ library _ that is your diary.”

“After the first century or so it does stack up,” Pearl said cheerfully.

“I think I’ll leave the diary to Pearl,” Jasper said.  She was noticing how, even if she wasn’t reversing, Lapis was still being cautious.  She wasn’t holding her at arm’s length literally, but since she’d stood up and bent forward to hug her while she was sitting, she’d made sure the only place their bodies met was at the shoulders, maybe a little bit of the upper chest.  She couldn’t wrap her own arms around Lapis without pulling her over, so she just rested her hands on her back.  Again, pretty smart.  It felt safe, neither of them too exposed to the other.  It would be wonderful if one day Lapis just hugged her without clearly thinking of all the angles, but it was just ungracious to get picky about it now.  Besides, how about the way she was leaning into her, resting against her as if it really felt good to be there?

_ She’s got to be able to smell Pearl on me, though.  And there’s no way I don’t just generally smell like sweat and pussy.  And here we are doing this very chaste cuddly thing.  This is so weird. _

Lapis’ arms loosened and she stepped back, keeping her balance with her hands on Jasper’s shoulders. “I  _ think _ I want to be by myself for a little bit,” she said, shuffling over and stepping down from the bed..  “Just to think things over and sort of appreciate them.  So, um, excuse me.  And thank you.  Both.  Excuse me.  We should talk about this tomorrow!  Bye.”  She had quickly excused herself across the room and out the door.

“Oh dear,” said Pearl.  “I forgot to tell her about the world tour.  Oh well, plenty of time.”  She bounced round and flung herself into Jasper’s lap.  “I’m so pleased for you!  You know, she  _ does _ like you, very,  _ very _ much, and I don’t think you have that much longer to wait until she’s expressing it more freely.”

“Oof.”  Jasper flopped back on the pillows. “Okay, I have to make a new rule, because this just came up.  If you want to kind of demonstrate things on me for Lapis to do, that’s great, that’s fantastic, I  _ want _ you to do that a  _ lot,  _ but I’m gonna need you to give me some warning because… oh, wow.  Pearl, that was  _ so _ hot.  I wanted you to strip me off and show her everything and I wanted to feel your hands on me and hear you two talking about me and belong to you and…  I just need to know if you’re going to make me feel like that again so I can brace myself a little.”

“I’m not doing very well tonight, am I?  First I didn’t realise you’d want to be woken up, and then I thought you’d really  _ enjoy _ the demonstration kiss but I didn’t anticipate how bowled over you would be.”  Pearl curled up in the crook of Jasper’s knee.

“Both of those were the first time they came up,” Jasper said, and shrugged.  “Plus it’s not as if there were any horrible consequences.  Consequence of the first one, I was confused and kind of sweaty when I woke up.  Consequence of the second one, I went from mostly normal to fuck-me-now in maybe three seconds and the acceleration was a shock.”

“Goodness.  Are you still feeling that way?”

“I’ve cooled off a little.  When I thought she was laughing in my face that was a bit of a passion-killer.”

“Oh, darling.”  Pearl patted her thigh sympathetically.

“Of course, then I knew she wasn’t and she was lying there all giggly and relaxed and that warmed me up a bit again.”

“I could see on your face how badly you wanted to touch her then - but also that you’d clearly decided to hold back, and I admired your resolution.”

“I  _ wanted _ to lick her tummy.”

“She does have an adorable tummy.  Only there?”

“I thought maybe I’d push my tongue down inside the waistband of her skirt and swish it around there a bit before I pushed  _ up _ her skirt and - yeah, you get the picture.”

“Pretend I don’t and tell me in gratuitous, saucy detail exactly what you’d like to do.”

“It’s still vague, though, ‘cause I don’t know just what her body’s like or what  _ she _ likes.”

“Would you like me to give some descriptions, or would you rather make your own discoveries in due course?”

“Yeah, no spoilers please.  And I don’t think there’s anything I want to do with her that I don’t do with you, so you can imagine a thing or two.”

“I like your little white pants.  They hug your curves very nicely.”  Pearl slipped her fingertip just inside the waistband and slid it from side to side.  “You’ve forgotten something important.”

“I’m not great at making clothes, you know that.”

“The way white fabrics tend to go transparent when wet.”  Another fingertip pressed in the middle of the cleft with a soft little squish.

“Oh shit, that  _ is _ important.  I don’t know how to fix it now.”  She bit her lip, half-smiling, her eyes slipping closed as Pearl’s finger slid up and down.

“And flimsy and clinging, so it’s particularly obvious when your clitoris is engorged.”

“Noooo, I told you engorged is a gross word.  Call it hard or swollen or whatever.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll try to remember.”  She could hear a soft undercurrent of laughter in Pearl’s voice.

“Or rampant, remember rampant works.  What does rampant even mean?”

“Rearing up.”  She was doodling her fingertip around it now.

“See, that’s perfect.  Will you suck it again?”

“Through your little white pants?”

“To start, yeah.  Oh…”  It was warm and pulling and sweet, and she drew a long fluttering breath.  “Oh, Pearl…  I love that.”  She wasn’t under any restrictions about playing with herself, so she pulled her shirt up under her chin to softly rub her breasts.  _ Imagine if Lapis came back now and saw this.   _ The thought carried her under into bliss.

 

Amethyst had been a little surprised when Pearl had stuck her with laundry duty for the day - it wasn’t like  _ Pearl _ to turn down a chore, but apparently she had some kind of top secret project she was planning that would take her the whole day.  It was a weird day generally - Steven wasn’t up and about yet, instead lurking at the bottom of his bed and saying he didn’t feel great and he just wanted to sleep.  She nabbed Peridot and told her she was helping, and while they waited for the machines to do their thing they sat up on the big stone hand and played Bubble Murder, which consisted of Amethyst blowing soap bubbles (having drunk the bottle of bubble liquid and being a very skilled burper) and Peridot trying to shoot them out of the air with very small specks of light from her slingshot.  She laughed villainously when she succeeded, hence Bubble  _ Murder.   _

“I am  _ definitely _ getting better at this,” she gloated.  “I am Bubblic Enemy Number One.  And I love being up this high!  Like being a giant but still getting to be me.  I can see everywhere like Tourmaline.  I hope you noticed that I said  _ bubblic.” _

“You mean that was on purpose?” Amethyst asked, grinning.

Peridot stuck her tongue out at her, without rancour.  “But!  Do you know what Tourmaline  _ can’t _ see, no matter how high up she goes?”

“No, what?”

“Come on, at least try to think what it is.  I feel so bad for her.”

“Ummm… no, her vision’s pretty great.”

“She’s really missing ou-out,” Peridot half-sang, waggling her eyebrows.  “You give up?”

“Okay, what can’t Tourmaline see?”

“She can’t see you.”  Peridot slung her arm round Amethyst’s shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.  “Was that smooth or what?”

Amethyst snorted.  “That was the cheesiest thing  _ evar,” _ she said, returning the kiss to Peridot’s cheek.  “Plus you know I’ve heard Ruby use that basic line on Sapphire at least eleven times, right?”

“Well duh, Garnet’s my chief and only source of relationship advice,” Peridot said.  “And I bet Sapphire doesn’t mind.”

“I don’t mind either.  I think we both did okay, finding cute dorks like yous.”

“Ruby may be a dork but I am a nerd.  Actually, isn’t Ruby more of a jock?”

“There’s overlap.  Make a Venn diagram about it, nerd,” Amethyst said fondly.  She tried resting her head on Peridot’s bony little shoulder but it didn’t work too well, so she settled for another kiss on the cheek.  “Oh, there’s a jock.  Out of her natural habitat though.  What’s going on there?” She pointed down to the beach, where Jasper could be seen walking beside Lapis Lazuli.

“Definitely weird courtship behaviour,” Peridot said. “Jasper’s doing that thing she does, have you ever noticed?  She does it at Pearl too.  It’s interesting because it’s somehow a non-intimidating version of looming over you.  A normal loom says, ‘You are small and I am big and I can crush you any time I want.’  This one says… hmm.”  She dropped her voice into an approximation of Jasper’s.  “Hey baby.  There’s an awful lot of me and it’s all into  _ you.” _

“Ha!  Accurate.  Also the fingerguns really sold it.”

“Thanks, I felt inspired.”

“Lapis is doing her I-like-you thing, too.  She kind of goes… sway-ey.”

“And that thing, there, walking backwards looking up at her - then she turns round so she doesn’t fall over but she keeps looking at her, back over her shoulder.”

“Arches her back a lot more than she needs to.”

“Sticks her butt out, quite frankly.  I mean, I do it when I want you to notice me too, so I can criticise,” Peridot added.

“Your butt’s cuter than hers anyway.  So unless we both suck at reading body language, I guess it’s safe to say it’s all on with those two.”

“I really didn’t think it would develop that quickly.”  Peridot planted her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, watching the walking pair with avid curiosity.  “I guess Jasper works fast, unless it’s Lapis working fast, unless it’s mutual, or unless of course this is somehow orchestrated by Pearl.”

“I don’t think Pearl could string quartet something like that, let alone a whole orchestra.  I don’t know.  I want them all to be happy but if there’s a way to make it blow up in her face, Pearl’ll find it.”  Amethyst folded her arms on top of her knees and rested her chin on them.  “Peri, I need to tell you about something and I feel bad about not telling you before.”

“Oh?”

“The only reason I didn’t was… no, there are two reasons.  One is it’s a secret I was keeping before I met you, so I just kept on keeping it.  The other is I didn’t want you to have to worry about it.  But by this time I think it’s more likely to be a hassle if you don’t know than if you do.”

“You sound awfully serious.”

“Yeah.  Listen, can you promise me you won’t tell anyone else?  That could be really hard to do.  This might really bother you; I know it bothers the crap out of me.”

“I… can’t really say without knowing the parameters, but I can say I never want to let you down.  If it needs to be a secret I’ll do my best to keep it that way.  What is this about?  Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Amethyst said, slightly surprised.  “I  _ know _ the secret, it’s not a secret  _ about _ me.”

“Is it about Steven?  Is he safe?”

“It’s - it’s not  _ about _ Steven but it could  _ affect _ Steven, and that’s why it’s so important.  He can’t know about this, okay?”

“Okay… if this is to protect him.”  Peridot was looking increasingly uncomfortable with the whole business.  “Can you tell me the main point of the thing?  Pussyfooting around it is making me nervous.”

“Okay.”  Amethyst looked over her shoulder, checking behind them.  They were alone except for a rattling washing machine and a wheezing dryer.  “It’s about why we were keeping Lapis in the mirror.”

Peridot frowned.  “This is slightly before my time but I thought you didn’t  _ know _ Lapis was in the mirror.  At least, you didn’t know there was a sentient, living Gem in there.”

“That’s what Pearl thinks, that’s what Steven thinks, that’s what they need to go on thinking,” Amethyst sighed.  “Here’s the thing, way back at the beginning Pearl found that mirror left behind at the Galaxy Warp and she started playing with it and found out it could show her almost anything she asked to see, including Homeworld.  She was messing around with it for a while by herself before she went running to show it to Rose, and she was so, so happy.  She was crazy homesick even then and she felt like she’d found a lifeline.  Now Pearl didn’t know Lapis Lazuli, but Rose knew her a little or she knew her reputation, and she recognised her gemstone.”

“What was her reputation?” Peridot asked.

“Major Mean Girls,” Amethyst said.  “Her whole thing was to stay in Blue Diamond’s good books, and as long as Big D thought she was witty and charming and  _ all just too risqué _ and junk she was safe and sound and had a really cushy life.  To make sure  _ she _ never looked bad to Blue Diamond she used to make sure  _ other _ people looked bad.  She’d find ways to make sure they got humiliated but nobody could ever be sure it was her, and there were always people who wanted to protect her because if she was safe  _ they _ were safe, you dig?  Hey, is it like that with Yellow Diamond?”

“Not really.  Yellow Diamond doesn’t care if you’re charming or witty or anything, she cares about efficiency and productivity and diligence and obedience.”

“Okay.  So anyway, she was a life-ruiner and she ruined people’s lives, her hair was full of secrets, et cetera.  And here she was stuck in a mirror and cracked.  The mirror kind of suspended her so she wasn’t gonna die, and later on it turned out she’s so freaky strong all the crack really did was cut off one of her special abilities.  I got cracked once and I was talking all backmask and turning into noodles.  I hope you never get cracked, it stone cold sucks.”

“Say crack again,” Peridot said hopefully.

“See, this is why I show you the important movies.”  Amethyst managed a small smile.  “Well, Rose could have healed her, but the thing is, she thought about all the bad stuff she knew Lapis had had a hand in, and she looked at her little group - and this is before they had me, she and Garnet explained it to me when they thought I was mature enough - and thought about everything they’d just gone through and she hated so much that she had to shut someone out, or leave her shut  _ in, _ but she was tired and sad and she just couldn’t face Lapis maybe ruining things here too, ruining the little bit she had left with the friends she’d managed to save.  Plus of course, she knew she could fly through space and if she took off to Homeworld what  _ did  _ happen a lot later on could’ve happened much sooner when they weren’t ready for it.  Not that we were  _ ready _ for it but we handled it.”

“And she didn’t tell Pearl?”

“No, because Pearl already loved this dang mirror so much and Rose loved  _ her. _  She wanted her to have something that made her happy, and she felt bad about how following her meant Pearl was cut off from all the places she’d loved so much, all her… space nerd stuff, so she fudged it.  She told Pearl the mirror was just powered by broken shards and she should enjoy it for as long as it lasted.  She told Garnet the truth because Sapphire knew it anyway.  They agreed they were just going to protect Pearl from knowing what she had.  They didn’t think it was a  _ good _ decision but sometimes there are no good options.  So Garnet and I, we kept it a secret, even after Rose was gone, and we just hoped it’d never come up again.  Like eventually the mirror didn’t work so well any more, which now we think was Lapis giving up on Pearl ever understanding when she tried to reach her.  And we had Steven, and things were changing… we were hoping it wouldn’t matter.  There were a couple of times when I was so mad at Pearl,  _ so _ mad I nearly told her.  I wanted to say, you think you’re so freaking perfect, you wanna know what you’ve been doing all this time with that mirror?  Never did, though, because I promised Rose.”  Amethyst sniffed hard and knuckled at her eyes.

“Hold on,” said Peridot.  She got up, scampered over to the dirty laundry hamper and dug out a crumpled grey teeshirt with an airbrushed lizard on it.  “Here, this is mostly clean, and we’re going to wash it anyway so you can snot on it.”

“Thanks, babe.”  Amethyst gave a short, slightly painful little laugh and wiped her eyes.  “Uh, that’s the background, I think.  That’s why we didn’t tell Pearl and that’s why we can’t tell Steven.  Do you get why?”

“Obviously.  Steven would be horrified.  You don’t want to put him through that when there’s nothing anyone can do about it any more.  Right?”  Peridot scooted closer to her and put her arm round her shoulders.

“Right.  So when Lapis came  _ back,  _ and everything happened and then everything happened some more and you happened all over the place and - yeah, Garnet and I were just trying to figure out what the hell to do about her.  We agreed that we were going to keep a really close eye on her and the second she looked like hurting Steven or Pearl one of us would have to take her down.  Like not break her, but we’d have to poof her.  And when she started getting closer to you, I knew it was the same thing.  I needed to keep you safe.  But this is the thing, we weren’t just sitting there thinking oh okay, this heinous snake is acting all chummy with our special little guy and our friend and my girlfriend, but we’re not going to do anything unless  _ she _ does something.  That would be stupid, if we  _ knew _ she was just poison we wouldn’t be giving her the chance.  We don’t  _ know _ about Lapis.  It just seems like now she’s got people she loves, and love’s a pretty great motive for trying to be a decent person.  I can believe she honestly likes you, you know?  I don’t worry about you with her like I used to, I don’t worry that she’s going to play mind games and try to break us up and most of the time I like  _ her.   _ But there’s still just that little bit of not knowing, that little worry that if things go bad for her she’ll go back to her old ways and that’s why we can’t just relax.”

“You’ve been really good at hiding all of this,” Peridot said.  “I had no idea.  Feel a little stupid, actually.”

“I’ve been hiding it forever, I’m used to it.  I’m really sorry, Peri, I hated not telling you the truth.  I don’t even know if it’s the right thing to tell you now because what if I’m just ruining your friendship for you?  And what if I’ve ruined things for us because you can’t trust me any more?”  Amethyst hid her face in the wadded-up teeshirt and smothered a sob.  She couldn’t look at Peridot, but she felt her other arm wrap round her and Peridot resting her head against hers.  

“It hurts my feelings that you - well, you didn’t just not tell me a secret.  You were acting a lie, whenever we talked to Lapis, whenever she came over to see us, whenever  _ we _ talked about her and you didn’t tell me what you really thought.  It really,  _ really _ hurts my feelings that you lied to me about something important.”  Her voice sounded thin and scratchier than usual.

“‘msorry,” Amethyst mumbled.  

“But I know you promised people you loved before you ever knew me.  I know you’re trying to keep everyone you love safe and I believe you’re telling me the truth now so I think I’m going to forgive you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I think I’m forgiving you.  Look, you have an amnesty for five minutes to tell me any other horrible secrets you’re keeping and I’ll try to cover it with a whole blanket forgiving.”

Amethyst lifted her face from the crumpled grey cotton, blotchy and streaky but starting to brighten.  “It was just that one biggie.”

“Any other lies you’ve been telling?”

“Not any big ones.  Little bullshit stuff like when I told you Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is an honorary Crystal Gem.”

“Well, that’s disappointing but I can make allowance for silly things like  _ that.” _

“There’s stuff I haven’t told you about me yet, but those aren’t secrets, they’re just things I haven’t got round to.  You know what I mean?  So if they come up you might be surprised, but I can’t like tell you everything now, because it’s just this huge mass of everything that’s ever happened to me.”

“That’s okay.  I probably have that type of thing too, just less of it.”

“Peri?”

“Mm?”

“Thanks.”

“I  _ am _ being pretty nice to you.  I think it’s worth it.”

“Also thanks for letting me snot on your teeshirt.”  She blew her nose, wadded it up and dried her eyes on the outside of the ball.

“It’s not one of my favourites.  And like you said, love is a good motive for trying to be a decent person.”

“Well, Garnet really said that.”

“It sounds like one of hers.  Are you okay now?”  Peridot lifted her head and shifted to sit alongside Amethyst again, keeping one arm around her shoulders.

“I feel a lot better.  You?”

“I still feel somewhat stupid and hurt, but I think it’s going to wear off.  And really I suppose - well, I don’t endorse you ever not telling me important things you know about someone I’m befriending  _ again, _ but because I  _ didn’t _ know all those reasons to be wary and suspicious of Lapis, maybe my trusting her was good for her and made her want to be worthy of my trust.  Almost like I was Steven.  That’s a more positive aspect of it, don’t you think?”

“Yeah.”  Amethyst scrubbed her hands through her hair.  “That is kind of nice.  You still want to be friends with her now you know?”

“I do.  I think she’s changed.  For one thing she’s in such a different situation.  There isn’t any Diamond to suck up to, and causing drama within such a small group would really be maladaptive.  Lapis Lazuli’s certainly intelligent enough to see that applying the same old strategies isn’t the answer here.  Look at the choices she  _ has _ made.  She’s built close connections to the one person everyone adores and to the person who’s probably the most protective of him out of all of us.  She’s befriended me, the intellectual linchpin of the group, and she’s persevered in overcoming her aversion to Jasper, who is A, a powerhouse and B, extremely devoted and loyal.  Even if you look at it from a totally dispassionate perspective, those are the choices of someone who wants to have a permanent, secure place in this collective.  Although now I stop and think about it, what does she actually contribute?  She doesn’t help with missions, she doesn’t do housework and she doesn’t work outside the home either.  She  _ could _ do any of those things.  But her place in the hierarchy so far has depended totally on those emotional connections and relationships.”

“She doesn’t do jack around here, you’re right,” Amethyst said, puzzled.  “I guess no one expects her to.  How’d she fix it like that?”

“I don’t know.  I don’t understand why she’d want to.  It’s so much better having a  _ role.   _ Everyone knows what you’re there for.  I solve problems and build things.  You kick ass and maintain morale by being hot and funny.  Lapis… looks pretty and helps with Chalcedony when she feels like it and dances with Pearl, I suppose.  Maybe I could talk to her about what she brings to the team.  Being very tactful and subtle, of course.”

“I’d wait till things settle a little with all that.”  Amethyst waved down at the beach, where Lapis and Jasper were parting company.  Lapis had popped out her wings and sprung up in the air, only to circle back down to briefly kiss Jasper before she flew away again, out over the sea.  It was a pretty impressive manoeuvre.  “I’m not the Tact Queen myself but I think if she’s really trying to make things work with Jasper and Pearl, we’ll probably just make her crabby if we ask her to start pulling her weight round here at the same time.”

“You’re probably right,” Peridot said, nodding.  “I’d like to kiss you to reaffirm our bond but I know your mouth will still taste like bubble soap and I find that disgusting.  No offence.”

“Oh, none taken.  I’m kinda regretting drinking so much of it, I’m full of suds now.”

 

Jasper trailed back to the house trying to have a  _ little _ bit of dignity and not embarrass herself trying to walk on air.  She and Lapis had mostly talked about nothing for at least half an hour, but the whole time there had been a mood between them that she found incredibly encouraging.  There was flirting back and forth, there was actually enjoying being around each other, there was how pretty Lapis looked today and by remarkable good luck, there hadn’t been even one remark that prodded either of them on a sore spot.  She kept telling herself that it wouldn’t all be like this, that you didn’t just completely get over history like theirs and never feel bad about it again, but that didn’t change how she felt now, all warm and ticklish and goosey.  She wanted to tell Pearl all about it, but she’d gone off early to reconnoitre for her world tour idea and probably wouldn’t be back till late.

Inside the house everything was quiet.  She stepped up on the couch and stuck her head over the edge of Steven’s loft.  “You up yet?” she asked.  Even if you couldn’t tell Steven the details of what you were happy about he was probably the best person she knew to feel happy with.

“Nnngggh,” said the rolled up quilt that was apparently Steven.

“C’mon, it’s a beautiful day.  I mean, it’s cold but it’s sunny.  What’s the matter?”

“I’m  _ sore,” _ Steven grumbled.  “I feel like I did something really physical yesterday even though I didn’t.”

“Is that one of the diseases you guys get?  Mystery soreness?”

“Not one I know.  Anyway, I hardly ever get sick.  I don’t get colds.  I had a flu one year that  _ everyone _ in town got, but it wasn’t too bad.  I haven’t eaten anything weird either.”

“Hot baths are good for sore muscles, right?  Why don’t you take a bath and see if that helps?”

“It feels weird to take a bath in the morning,” he complained.  “Baths are for ni-nighs.”

“Good news, kiddo, it’s not morning any more.  Do you want to just lie there or do you want to try something that might make you feel better?”

“I really want to just lie there,” Steven admitted, but he unrolled himself from the quilt and put his feet on the floor.

“Holy crap, what happened to you?” Jasper asked, startled.  He still looked like  _ Steven _ but there was unaccountably more of thim.  His arms and legs were longer, his torso was longer, his neck was, well, visible.  He wasn’t  _ big _ yet but he was big _ ger. _  He was obviously startled too; his feet must have hit the floorboards sooner than he was expecting.

“How did I do that again?” he exclaimed.  “I wasn’t trying to!”

“Do what again?”

“On my birthday, I stretched myself out to look taller, I was embarrassed about not growing for years and I lied and I said I had a magic growth spurt,” Steven gabbled.

“Did you stretch your hair too?”

“My hair?”  He clapped his hands to his head, where there were at least four inches more ringlets than there had been the night before.  “Aah!  My hair!  What’s going on with my hair?”

“Don’t worry, it looks kind of pretty.”

“Well that’s very nice Jasper but I’m having a personal crisis!”

“You’re really scared, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”  His eyes were big and dark, and he was breathing fast.

“But isn’t this a good thing?  A great thing?”

“Not when I didn’t mean it to happen.”

“Hold on, I’m coming up there.”  She climbed the steps, avoided cracking her head on the ceiling beams and sat down beside him.  He grabbed on around her waist and hid his face against her chest, and she could feel him shaking.  This was well outside her expertise, but she tried patting his back.  “It’s going to be okay.  Something weird is happening, but we’re here to deal with weird things, right?”

“Right,” he said, muffled.

“Do you  _ feel _ stretched out?”

“No.”

“Have you ever stretched without knowing it before?”

“No.”

“Maybe that’s not it, then.”

“It feels like my lie came true.”

“What’s a growth spurt?  Talk me through it.”

“It happens to kids my age and Connie’s.  You just suddenly grow a lot - but I mean over a couple of weeks, not overnight.”

“I think I should call your dad.  This sounds like human stuff, even if it’s accelerated human stuff.”

“What’s going on up there?”  Garnet was down in the living room, looking mildly concerned, for her.

“Steven either stretched or grew a lot in the night, we’re not sure what yet, and he’s sore and freaking out,” Jasper reported.  She felt mildly snubbed by the way Steven sprang up and ran downstairs to hug Garnet, but she guessed she was a longer-established source of comfort.  

“Did you see this would happen?  Do you know what  _ is _ happening?” Steven asked urgently.

“I’m not sure,” Garnet said, stroking back his hair, which was threatening to flop into his eyes.  “There are a lot of possibilities swirling around at the moment.  If it helps, I don’t see any of them resulting in any immediate harm for you.  Whatever’s going on, it’s something you can cope with.”

“What if none of my clothes fit any more?  My PJs feel too tight.”

“We’ll just open the box of teeshirts the next size up.  You’re all right, Steven.”

“These are my favourite pyjamas,” Steven said, sagging.  “Why couldn’t  _ they _ stretch?”

“I have a feeling that’s a side issue.  And Jasper’s right, we should call Greg.”

 

By the time Greg arrived, everyone but Pearl had gathered to have a good look at Steven.  Even Chalcedony was scuttling around sniffing at his ankles, assuming Chalcedony could sniff.  He was dressed now, which meant he’d confirmed that his jeans were not too tight but entirely too short.  He greeted Greg with a plaintive wail.  “Dad!  Why are my arms so hairy?  I feel like a werewolf!”

“Plus I think you’re getting a zit,” Amethyst said helpfully.  “Here under your nose.”

“Is all the sweating part of the transformation?” Peridot asked, lifting one of his arms to look underneath.

“Okay, everyone please take one big step back from Steven,” Greg said.  “How’re you doing, Steven?  And sorry about the arms, that’s genetic, that’s your Grandpa Russell.”

“I don’t know what’s happening and I feel gross and weird!”

“That’s actually pretty standard, buddy.  Would a hug help?”

“Ye-he-he-hes.”  He slumped into his dad’s arms.

“Wow, you really do come up higher on me.  You must be two, three inches taller.”

“We’re pretty sure it’s not stretching,” Garnet said, “because he can’t go back.”

“And he was too heavy for his size last night, and I lifted him again today and he’s still too heavy for his size but not by as much,” Jasper said.

“Which - assuming Jasper’s perception of weight is accurate, which it clearly isn’t with any kind of precision - leads me to hypothesise that there’s more of this rapid growth on the way,” Peridot concluded.

“Which is terrifying!” Steven exclaimed.  “What if I don’t stop?  What if it’s the opposite of what I was worried about with Connie and tomorrow I look like I’m forty and she’s still nearly thirteen?  People will think I’m her dad!”

“They… probably won’t think you’re her dad,” Greg said, leading him over to the couch and sitting him down.  “Listen, about the weight thing, you know your mom’s weight used to change too, right?  I don’t mean like humans gain and lose weight, getting fatter or thinner, I mean she could get lighter and float in the air, or sometimes she got extra heavy, heavier than you’d think she could possibly be, and left really deep footprints.”

“I’ve heard about that!” Jasper said eagerly.  “Made her incredibly manoeuvrable, or on the other hand made her almost impossible to budge if she dug her heels in.   _ So _ cool.”

“And it was linked to her emotions, which we already know is true for your powers, Steven,” said Garnet.

“We could be seeing a double whammy here, I guess,” Greg said, stepping back to look Steven up and down.  “Because if there’s one thing that stands out about puberty besides all the physical stuff, it’s big, intense emotions.”

“So you’re positing an interaction between two processes, the development of Gem attributes and human physical maturation, with each aggravating or intensifying the other?” Peridot asked.  “I suppose it could be.  I’d need to revise my hypothesis.  I wish Pearl was here, she’d have a worthwhile second opinion.  Where  _ is _ she, anyway?”

“She’s out organising something nice for me and Jasper,” Lapis said.  She was hanging back a little, as was customary for her, but looked as if she was on the fringe of the group rather than right outside it.  “I can go and look for her if you think it’s necessary, but aren’t we all agreed this isn’t an emergency?  Steven isn’t sick or hurt, and he has all of us here to support him.”

“Pearl won’t be happy that she missed something important in his life,” Garnet said.  “I expect her back pretty soon, though.  Trouble with monkeys.”

“Ooooooooooh,” said Amethyst.  “Pearl and monkeys do  _ not _ mix.”

“Are you okay, Steven?” Greg asked.  “You’re being pretty quiet.”

“No, I didn’t know that about Mom.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you.  It wasn’t one of the things that mattered most to me about her.”

“So does that mean if I change my feelings I can stop getting older?  I thought that happened before, back when I tried to throw birthdays for Garnet and Amethyst and Pearl.  I don’t look like I did then, though.”  Steven looked up at Greg both anxiously and hopefully, as if he might have the answers.

“The forms you went through then were just one possibility for how you might develop, and they were influenced by what you were imagining at the time,” Garnet put in. 

“Oh my gosh, your morphic field must be in  _ flux,”  _ Peridot said gleefully.  “I’ve never had a chance to observe something like this before!  Obviously it’s very stressful for you and I just want to understand the process so I can help you cope with it,” she added quickly and patted Steven’s arm.

The warp pad flared and Pearl appeared, looking deeply disgruntled and heavily spattered with snow and mud.   _ “Nobody is to talk to me about monkeys in any context,” _ she announced, before registering what was happening and rushing over to Steven in great consternation.  She held his face between her hands and fired questions into it.  “Steven!  What’s happened?  Are you all right?  Did you stretch yourself again?  What’s happened to your hair?”

“Nothing’s - I’m okay, Pearl, I just grew.  Kind of fast.  Including my hair.”

“Let me brief you on what we know so far!” Peridot was reaching new heights of inappropriate enthusiasm, but she made a decent job of recapping the situation while Pearl sat next to Steven holding his hand and patting it distractedly.  Lapis slipped away silently, but must have gone only as far as the bathroom, because she came back with a towel and sat behind Pearl attempting to dry her hair.  Jasper thought that was an odd move for someone who could just whisk the water out of it, but maybe the point was more to do something comforting for a loved one who’d just had a mysterious run-in with monkeys and then come home to a suddenly overgrown child and an overexcited Peridot.  She sort of wished she’d thought of it, but then, she couldn’t have fitted herself into the space between Pearl and the wall.  There were occasional advantages to being a little slip of a thing.

“So now we get to watch and see what happens!” Peridot concluded, snapping closed a broken-off transistor radio antenna she had been using as a pointer.  “And I’m sure it’ll be weird and fascinating.”

“I guess there’s no Gem equivalent for this type of thing, huh?” Steven asked.

“We do go through stages of learning and development, but we start our lives full-grown,” Pearl said, nodding.  

“Not totally,” Jasper said.  “I mean, I don’t know about every kind of Gem but I know Jaspers, and I’m guessing most Quartzes, start off with short hair and it grows.  You’ve got two ways of guessing how old a Jasper is, her stripes and how big her hair is.  That’s not totally reliable, though, ‘cause it can get shorn off as a disciplinary measure.  Not that you need to worry about that, but you know, you’re a Quartz, be prepared for big hair.”

“Shorn off?”  Steven looked perturbed.

“It grows back.  Mine did.  Look at it now!”

“What did  _ you  _ do to get your hair cut off?” Lapis asked.

“Retreated,” she said, shrugging one shoulder.  “Anyway, that was a sidetrack.  Sorry, Steven.  Thought it’d be encouraging.  Your hair really is coming in nice, though.”

“It flops all over the place like Slinky springs,” he said, bobbing his head back and forth.  “I wonder if I should cut it back how it was.”

“Do what you want, it’s your hair,” Greg said.  “Just, you know, remember that I gave you my musical talent and my cute nose but probably also my going bald in the thirties.  Enjoy it while you’ve got it.”

“Steven has his mother’s nose,” Pearl said indignantly.

“I think… I think I’ve kind of had enough of everyone looking at me for a while,” Steven said hesitantly.  “I’m really glad I’ve got all of you round me caring about me, but I want to be by myself a bit till I feel more like  _ me _ again.  I think I’m going to go sit in my mom’s room for a while.”

“That’s a  _ very  _ good idea,” Pearl said as he got up.  “And we’ll all be here when you want to come back.”

“Not just sitting waiting here, please, I’d feel bad.  C’mon, Chalcedony, I don’t even know if you’ve got eyes so you can keep me company.”  He scooped the centipeetle up and went into the Temple, turning back to give them a sheepish little wave before the door closed behind him.

“He’s going to need new sandals,” Garnet observed.  “His heels are coming off the backs of those ones.”

“What’s become of my little boy?” Pearl asked rhetorically, and a bit melodramatically.

“He’s still kind of little,” Greg pointed out.  “Still short for fourteen, anyway.”

“Definitely not like the adolescent males in  _ Camp Pining Hearts,” _ Peridot agreed.

“Dude, all those guys are like twenty, twenty-five,” Amethyst said.  “They cast young-looking adults ‘cause their skin’s cleared up and they can work full time, plus they don’t keep growing out of their costumes.”

“You mean TV has lied to me  _ again?” _

“I know, hon, it’s not fair.”  Amethyst patted her shoulder sympathetically.  “I was upset when I found out there are no baby butlers.  Two sides of the same coin.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I BIT OFF WAY MORE THAN I COULD CHEW THIS TOOK FOREVER AND I NEVER SAW AN APPROPRIATE STOPPING POINT.  
> It occurs to me that Jasper uses a couple of words slightly oddly; when she refers to "true love" at one point in this chapter she means an old-fashioned Homeworld ideal of love between a group of comrades rather than romantic love, and when she says "fuck me" she tends to mean "do something sexual to me" as opposed to "penetrate me," so in both cases she's slightly off from the standard human meanings.  
> so there's true love _and_ fucking in this one, par for the course. I really need to update the tags.

For the next few days Steven seemed subdued.  He grew about an inch taller before he stopped, and ate more voraciously than usual.  It was probably an unlucky coincidence that his growth spurt had happened while Connie was out of town for a week visiting her grandparents and attending a family wedding; he had time to stew over what she would think when she saw him, but couldn’t actually do anything about it.

“If she could roll with you turning into a baby I think she’s going to be cool with you being a little taller and fuzzier,” Amethyst said over a breakfast that he was moping into.

“Apart from your dimensions and your oddly hirsute forearms you really don’t look appreciably different,” Peridot added kindly.  

“I wonder if I should shave them too,” Steven said gloomily.  After a few days’ half-hearted joking about working on a Mario moustache he had very hesitantly attempted to groom his face with an electric shaver that Greg had self-evidently not used for many, many years.  At least the unsavoury-looking wisps that had been gradually colonising his upper lip were gone, but the prospect of having to repeat the process daily seemed to have deepened the funk he was in.

“Nah man, they’ll just get stubbly and scratchy.  Don’t do it to yourself.  Anyway, they’re not like  _ chimp _ arms.  It’s just a little hair and we’re all noticing it ‘cause it’s new.  I bet you grow into it.”

“Maybe Connie will  _ like _ it,” Peridot suggested.  “You don’t know she  _ won’t, _ anyway.  She might think it’s pretty, like your cranial hair.”

He was still going back and forth about cutting that short again.  They had all noticed him from time to time looking pensively at the portrait of Rose Quartz over the front door, stretching out one of the thick corkscrew locks his curls had settled into, peering at it and letting it spring back.  For now he was keeping it out of his face with a red plastic headband that Jasper had impulse-bought before realising it wouldn’t remotely fit her head.

“C’mon, Steven,” Amethyst said, nudging his shoulder with her knuckles.  “It’s not like you to be so down.”

“Maybe this is teen angst.  Maybe this is just  _ me _ from now on.”

“Hm,” said Peridot.  She picked up his phone from the tabletop, tapped around a bit and then stuck the screen in his face, which promptly lit up like a neon sunflower.

“What was that?” Amethyst asked.

“A photo of a piglet eating ice-cream under a sun umbrella,” Peridot said calmly.  “I mean, he’s still  _ Steven.” _

“A person can appreciate piglets living their best life and still have teen angst,” Steven protested.

“Do you need me to find the video of the seal that keeps saying ‘blebs’?”

“No, I have that one saved,” he chuckled.  

“You see, you can’t sustain angst.  Would it cheer you up to do something with us today?  We don’t really have anything planned…”  She looked over at Amethyst for suggestions.

“Uhhh… video games?”

“Oh!  Yes!  My time to shine!”  Peridot bounced up just as Jasper and Pearl emerged from the Temple door, Pearl carrying a large bag over her shoulder that Jasper was attempting to take and carry for her.  “You two!” Peridot cried.  “Do you want to join us for a video game tournament  _ to the death,  _ or to whatever forfeit we decide would be most entertaining?”

“Oh,” said Jasper, “thanks, but Pearl’s taking me somewhere.  Why won’t you let me carry it?”

“Because it’s not heavy and you’ll look inside and spoil the surprise.  Behave.  Thank you, Peridot, but we have plans,” Pearl added.  “How are you feeling today, Steven?”

“Kind of blebs, but I think it’ll pass.  You guys have fun!”  He waved them off as they disappeared from the warp pad, Jasper dutifully covering her eyes with one large hand.  “I hope they have a good time.  I hope everything is okay for them.”

“Why wouldn’t it be okay?”  Amethyst asked.  “Or is that just teen angst talking?”

“I… don’t want to spy on anyone, I saw this by accident, okay?  The other day I saw Lapis kiss Jasper.  I mean on her mouth.  It was just a quick little kiss but it  _ was _ on her mouth.  But that doesn’t have to mean anything’s wrong, right?”

“Ugh, they haven’t  _ told  _ you?” Peridot exclaimed.

“Told me what?  Jasper and Pearl didn’t break up, did they?”

_ “Peri,”  _ Amethyst said, trying to hiss a name with no sibilants in it.  “This isn’t our business.”  That part hissed much more successfully.

“If Pearl neglects her business I’ll just have to do it.  He’ll only worry if he’s not informed.  You’re right, Steven, nothing is wrong.  Jasper and Pearl are still happy together.  It’s just that at the same time, Pearl and Lapis are happy together, and Jasper and Lapis are getting... increasingly cheerful, let’s say.”

“Oh boy,” Amethyst muttered.

“Er, what now?” Steven asked politely.

“It’s very simple, they’re just all in love with each other.”

“When did  _ that _ happen, and how does it even work?”

“Exact chronology is unclear, but the nub of it is that Jasper was in love with Pearl, Lapis was in love with Pearl, Pearl loved both of them back and rather than anyone having to choose or anyone having to miss out they decided to try to share.  Boom.”

Steven was frowning in confusion.  “I guess that’s nice, but I never heard of anyone doing it that way before.  Is that what Gems always do in a situation like that?”

“Oh, good grief no.”  Peridot gave a little half-scoffing laugh.  “Close relationships between individuals are practically taboo.  Even showing a preference for another Gem’s company is morally suspect.”

“You’re not allowed to have  _ friends?” _ Steven exclaimed.  His voice shot up, cracked and plunged back down.

“Of course you’re allowed friends, it’s just that your friends are your designated group and you’re supposed to like them all equally.  Like if Amethyst were a Homeworld Gem, well, apart from being a lot bigger she’d be one of a set created together, who would live and work together and be each other’s friends.  Each equally with each of the others, and not with anyone outside the set.”

“Has Homeworld always basically sucked?” Amethyst asked.  “Because that sounds incredibly fake.  You can’t just make it a rule that these matching people are your friends and you all like each other the same.”

“Well, the sucking of it is a matter of opinion but no, not always.  These policies came in well before I was made, though.  They’re to promote social cohesion.  I hate it when I describe something ordinary and you look at me like it’s terrible.  I  _ know _ from your perspective it’s terrible.  It’s not as if I’m sitting here defending it - look who I’m sitting here  _ with.” _

“Did you have friends like that?” Steven asked hesitantly.  “Do you miss them?”

“Oh no, Peridots are designed to function semi-autonomously.  You could ask Jasper about it - but she tends to get a little upset.  This system was tested with Jaspers early on but because of their high attrition rate during the Earth war they ended up having to recombine sets from the survivors.  That generation had difficulty adapting to being interchangeable between sets as well as within their original sets.  She felt guilty about any time she started to bond with one comrade in particular, and she was alarmed whenever anyone else seemed especially attached to her.   _ And _ she was ashamed of having a crush on Rose Quartz because she was the wrong type of Gem,  _ and  _ of being soft on the Rubies under her command.”

“Wait, Jasper had a crush on my mom?  I didn’t think they knew each other!”

“They didn’t, she was a total fangirl.  The point is,  _ we  _ know Jasper,  _ we  _ know how affectionate she is and how attached she gets.  She didn’t have an easy life because of that.  She was always having to pull her feelings back in.  She’s definitely happier now.  I… think I just told you a lot more that isn’t really my business.”

“No kidding,” said Amethyst, her arms folded.

“I hope you’re not angry with me.”  Peridot’s eyes darted guiltily toward her.

“I’m mostly just creeped out thinking about that what-if-me who’s all big and has a set of compulsory matching friends.  Squad goals,  _ not.”   _ She looked over at Steven.  “You okay, Steeman?”

“Well, yeah.  Feeling lucky by comparison, I guess.  It just - it makes me sad.  You’re all such great, sweet, funny, nice people but it seems like you come from a place that doesn’t want to let you  _ be _ all those great things.”

“‘cept me,” Amethyst said, shrugging one shoulder.

“Excuse  _ you,”  _ Peridot said, “you better not be implying that you yourself are not great, sweet, funny and nice because these are well-known facts about you.”  Amethyst relented enough to blow a small raspberry at her, chased by a smile, and she looked tremendously relieved.

“I wonder how it got that way,” Steven said wistfully.

“That, unfortunately, is not something I ever focused on in my research,” Peridot admitted.  “I was always more interested in the technology than the sociology.  For nearly my whole life I just trusted that the Diamonds were in charge because they knew what they were doing and any doubts or discomfort I felt, any… incompatibility with what I was supposed to do was a problem with me, not with the system, so I just had to work harder to overcome it.”  She looked a little lost for a moment, then clapped her hands together briskly.  “Well!  Boo to all that!  And now video games.”

 

With her hand over her eyes Jasper could still see the difference in the light when the warp glow faded, but she kept them covered until Pearl gave the word, just to humour her.  Wherever they had come out, it was pretty cold and the air felt damp.

“All right, you can look.”

It was kind of bleak; a landscape of brown grassy hills with a few leafless trees and traces of snow.  They were on a small warp pad set into a hillside looking down on a mist-filled hollow.

“It doesn’t look like much,” she admitted.

“Well, not at this time of year, no.  The thing is, this surprise is not so much a surprise as an opportunity to acclimate yourself to what might  _ otherwise _ be a surprise, because if it were  _ actually _ a surprise you might be upset and I’d hate that.  I want this to be part of the world tour, but it wouldn’t be fair to spring it on you suddenly. This is actually my second choice.  The best spot is much more beautiful but it’s been taken over by a gang of monkeys who are  _ no _ respecters of persons.  This one  _ does _ have the virtue of being more remote and inaccessible - at the other one we were sometimes interrupted by humans exploring or being lost, but I’m pretty sure the only road to this one was cut off entirely by an earthquake a few years ago.  I cleaned up a bit when I came to check if it was still here and it looked as if no one has been here in ages.”  She took hold of Jasper’s arm with both of hers, leaning eagerly downhill before turning back.  “Oh!  I forgot to say, it’s a hot spring.”

“Oh!”

“Yes, and I know Lapis will love it but I wasn’t sure you would, and I didn’t want to put you on the spot of deciding whether you were comfortable with it or not with her watching and waiting.  I know you do like hot water, to some extent, and after hearing Steven and Connie’s reports of your progress in the swimming pool it seemed worthwhile to at least present the possibility.  If you don’t feel comfortable then I have somewhere else I know you’ll love and we can go straight there.”

“Oh,” Jasper repeated, feeling foolish.  She loved Pearl for trying so hard to be accommodating and considerate and all the rest of it, almost as much as she hated needing this kind of consideration.  “Thanks.  So the bag?”

“Towels.  But there’s no need to use them; we don’t even have to go and look if you don’t want.”

“I’m fine to go and take a look.”  She let Pearl lead her downhill into the mist.  It looked as if a white cloud had been lowered to the ground, but once you were inside it the vapour was easy to see through and the air turned warm and clinging.  It seemed like the hollow held it in.  Pearl led her between coarse grey stones to a large, irregularly oval pool of slightly cloudy, beigey water.  Even if no one had been here for ages, you could see that people had been here long ago.  They’d placed flat rocks to form steps down into the water, and others to make seats in spots along the sides.  There were faint markings carved into some, but they were so worn away that she couldn’t tell if they were Gem marks or human-made.  Maybe because it was warmer down here, there was a tree overhanging the pool that still had little five-pointed leaves, dropping red and brown onto the water.  It was steamier at one end where you could see a faint turbulence in the water, and at the other end it trickled away through a space between rocks.  It smelled a little… well, farty.  She was surprised it didn’t seem to bother Pearl, but she was just putting the bag of towels up on a rock to keep dry.

“What do you think?” Pearl asked, looking up at her with big hopeful eyes and an eager half-smile.

“So far it’s nice and warm, and the company’s good.  Let’s give this a try.”  She thought she sounded more confident than she felt, but it did seem like there was a decent chance she wouldn’t blow this.  She owed Steven and Connie an honest effort, anyway, after all the time they’d spent on her.

“Wonderful!  Tell me, how do you like to do this?  What helps you to be comfortable?”

“I’m not really as far as being comfortable.  I can do calm, though, I’m getting good at calm.”  She returned the hopeful smile.  “Want to get changed?”

“One, two, three, go.”  They glanced at each other and each said, “Oh.”  Pearl had just made her clothes disappear while Jasper had changed hers into her swimsuit.

“I understand if you don’t feel quite ready for nudity with Lapis around but I thought with just the two of us here…” 

“Oh, I - um.  Well, we’re outdoors…”  A sheepish giggle slipped out.

“Entirely alone.  And I will admit to a completely prurient interest in seeing you naked in an open-air setting.  Although you do look very lovely in that sleek black suit, too.  I haven’t seen it before.”

“Now you see it, now you don’t.”

“Oh, good!”  Pearl gave a skip on the spot and softly clapped her hands.  “Oh, you’re just glorious.  Do a stretch!  Turn around slowly.  Would it be  _ extremely _ inappropriate if I whistled at you?”

Laughter and warmth were both bubbling up in her as she turned, interlacing her fingers and stretching her arms up above her head, basking in Pearl’s adoration.  Coming back around to face her, she bent down to lift Pearl’s chin with the side of her forefinger and kiss her smiling mouth.  “You’re so damn cute.”

Pearl wriggled her shoulders and beamed.  “Shall we go in together?”

“You go in first, that way I’ve got an incentive to keep going, right?”

“Good idea.  Here I go!”  Pearl stepped lightly into the water lapping over the top stone step, caught her breath and quickly hopped out.  “Ooh.  I’d forgotten, it feels  _ very _ hot at first.  You have to take it in stages.”

“That’s what I do anyway.  First step’s always sitting down and putting my feet in,” Jasper said, bundling her hair into a kind of looped-up ponytail.

“I’ll try that again.”  She stepped in cautiously and relaxed.  “All right, it’s hot but not  _ too _ hot.  I’ll go down a step and - eesh.  Hothothot.”

“I don’t wanna see you get boiled.”

“I feel as if I’m wearing  _ very hot ankle socks,” _ Pearl said, giggling and hopping from foot to foot.  “Onward!  To knee socks.”

“Well, if you’re going to knee socks I’ll try… what do you call those little ones with no necks?  Footies?”  Jasper sat down on the stone slab, chilly and slightly gritty, and rested the soles of her feet on the surface of the water.  It was hot all right, but it didn’t shock her the way it seemed to do for Pearl.

“No necks?”  Pearl asked, bending to pick up a floating leaf.

“I can’t explain why but the part of the sock that goes up your leg, I always think that’s its neck.”

“You get such funny ideas.  Ta-daa!”  She had stuck a wet leaf over each nipple like the smallest and most ineffective bikini top ever.  “Does it suit me?”

_ “I  _ get funny ideas?” Jasper repeated, grinning.  “Yes, you look great.”

“Good.  I’m going to accessorise with - if I can bear it - thigh-high socks.”  She went down two steps in a rush and bobbled around on the spot gasping until the heat felt bearable.  One leaf unstuck itself and fell off.

“They look great on you too.”

“Thank you, but I think they suit you even better because you have that absolutely sweet soft little inner-thigh bulge over the top that I always want to bite.  But look!  This won’t last long so I want to show you before it all normalises and blends away.”  She hopped back up a step to show the blue flush that had spread up her legs where the water covered them, stopping just where the surface had been.

“You really do look like you’re wearing socks, that’s so neat.”

“It’s an interesting aspect of being very pale.  Anyway, back down I go, because now I feel cold where I’m out of the water.”

“Okay, I’m going down a step.  Butt in the water now too.  Ooh!”  She hoisted her hips back up, putting her weight on her arms.

“Did you sit on a pointy stone?”

“No, I - okay, sudden hot water between the legs, very startling.  Let me see if…”  She lowered her bottom again, cautiously, and found the temperature much more bearable.

“Yes, it’s just that first shock of immersion, isn’t it?  I’m trying to work up my nerve for it too.”

“It’s nice now I’m used to it.”

“Like a hot wet kiss for your pussy?”  Pearl asked coquettishly.

“You’re just trying to get me to charge in there after you.”

“Hmm, no, not if you’re more comfortable going gradually.  But I do want you to be in the right state of mind when you get here, however you get here.”

“Fair enough.”  So far she was feeling surprisingly good and she didn’t want to examine that too closely in case it stopped working.  She shifted herself down another step, closer to Pearl, the water lapping up around her waist.

“All right, this is going to look silly but it’s a necessary intermediate stage.”  Pearl squeezed her eyes shut, scooped up a handful of water and hastily splashed it between her legs.  “Eek!  All right, I can do this.”  She bobbed down to crouch with her knees up to her chest, immersed to her shoulders, with a little gasp.  Colour sprang into her cheeks and she made an obvious effort to keep herself still until a few moments had elapsed and she relaxed with a sigh.  “Aah… that’s done it.”

“You know your getting-into-hot-water face is surprisingly similar to your getting-fingered face?”

“I’m sure I don’t know what _ that _ looks like.”

“Yeah you do, remember the time you asked me to do it from the back in front of the mirror?”

“Oh yes, that,” Pearl said, giggling.  “Oops.  Though I remember then being less interested in my own face and more interested in seeing how your finger went in and moved inside me.  Oh, and your other hand stroking me all over and holding my hips, especially when I got all overexcited and shaky.  And just generally seeing you behind me, surrounding me, framing and protecting me.  Oh, that was lovely.”  She put her hands to her cheeks.  “Well,  _ now _ my face is all hot.”

Jasper scooted herself forward, her legs either side of Pearl, and wrapped her arms around her.  “Got you surrounded,” she said, and kissed her.  A little bit of rearrangement came next, because Pearl wanted to drape her arms around Jasper’s neck and her legs around her waist, but soon they were comfortable.

“Is this what you were hoping it’d be like here?” Jasper asked, bending to kiss Pearl’s shoulder.

“It’s exactly what I hoped for.  Do you feel all right?  Calm?”

“I’m feeling really happy.  Wouldn’t have believed I could feel like this sitting in the water, but as long as it’s working I’m not complaining.”

“Maybe the temperature makes the difference.  The warmth is so comforting, isn’t it?”

“Maybe.  Maybe the fear’s just finally wearing off.”

“I have a warm pool in my room - not quite this warm but it’s very nice.  Maybe later on you’ll like it in there.  Lapis certainly does.”

“She does?  I thought she was a real cold water girl.”

“Oh no, it’s her favourite place to relax.  I didn’t realise how much until recently, because she was only using it when I was out.  Now that we’re together she feels comfortable bathing with me there, which feels so nice and cosy and domestic.  I’m hoping that one day things will be nice and cosy and domestic with all three of us.”

“In your room?”

“Your room too.  Should I bring her with me next time I visit you?”

“To stay the night?”

“If you’d like.  Or we can set a time to go back - or for her to go back.”

“I’d feel kind of rude then.  Although I guess it’s even ruder to be like, yeah you can stay, we’ll be over here fucking and you can read a book or something.”

“Well, that  _ would  _ be rude.  It’s nicer to say ‘making love’.”  Pearl kissed her on the nose.

“What if you both stay but we stick to hugs and kisses for the night?”

“We could try that, but how realistic do you think it is?”

“Not very,” Jasper admitted.  

“None of us is very good at keeping our hands off the others.”  

“You’re not kidding, she goosed me yesterday.  I was minding my own business and everything.”

“How  _ terrible. _  What did you do?”

“Chased her up the stairs, caught her on the deck and blew a raspberry on the back of her neck.  I should write that down, that’s real rhyming poetry.”

“Then what did  _ she _ do?”

“Screamed - well, squealed really - called me an animal, grabbed me by the ears, kissed me and ran off while I was still goofy from the kiss.”

“I think it’s so sweet how you’re still discombobulated by her kissing you.”

“I think it’s so sneaky how she’ll do that on purpose to make a getaway.  She’s such a little brat.”

“She said, with obvious affection.”

“Well, yeah.  I kind of want to try it, you two spending the night, I mean.  Let’s ask her if she thinks it’s worth trying, anyway.”

“It’s not completely honest, though, because I’ll be hoping the whole time that you two get extremely frisky together.  If we actually do what we say we’re trying to do, I’ll be a little bit disappointed.”

“You’ll cope, won’t you?”

“Of course I will.  I - I’m telling you because I  _ know _ I may - well, I’ll certainly try  _ not to,  _ but I may slip into trying to nudge things along, and I may not realise I’m doing it.  If I do, and if I make you feel at all rushed or uncomfortable,  _ please _ tell me to cut it out.  I’ll say the same to Lapis.  I don’t mean to make it your responsibility but this way there’s a failsafe if I’m being terrible.”

“What’ll you be  _ doing?  _  Grabbing Lapis’ head and shoving it face-first into my boobs?”

“I don’t know, that’s the problem.  It’ll be something that seems like a good idea at the time.”

“You know by now it’s not so much me feeling uncomfortable as just not wanting to make her uncomfortable, right?  It’s getting weird, like we can grab each other as long as it’s this skittish play-fight thing, but I’m really worried that something like putting my arms round her and kissing her and taking a nice long time over it is going to make her feel trapped.  I need to talk to her about it before it gets weirder.”

“I hope not.  About her feeling trapped, that is.  Being wrapped up in your arms makes me feel so safe and protected.”

“Even if I’m growling and nibbling on you?”

“Somehow especially then.  If she’s goosing you to get you to chase her, I bet she’s starting to feel the same way.”

“I’ll ask her.  I mean, the temptation’s there to just grab her and shove her up against a wall and stick my tongue down her throat, but I’ll ask her.”

“That’s very sensible.  You also shouldn’t push her skirt up and squeeze her thighs with your big strong hands and growl and lick her neck when she can’t help but grind her soft little pussy against you.”

“Do you sit around imagining this stuff?”

“Only constantly.”

“I just love you.  What should I not do next?”

“Mmm… keep holding her up but kneel down and kiss her pussy and tease her with your tongue until she’s begging you to let her come, and then of course you do.”

“Right.  I will  _ not _ do that to Lapis.   _ But,  _ allowing for the fact you’re not wearing a skirt, maybe I could lift you up on the seat there and give it a try?”

“Yes, please.”

 

“So, having accepted the invitation, I’m left wondering what you pack for a strange, awkwardly platonic sleepover with your girlfriend and  _ her _ girlfriend.”  Lapis dropped into Peridot’s beanbag chair.  The scrunch was oddly soothing, and she pulled up her feet so she could dig her heels into it.

“Dildos and liquor,” Amethyst said without looking up from her video game.

“You and I may have different definitions of platonic,” Lapis said.

“I think you should take a book,” Peridot said brightly.

“That’s not even what platonic means, just not screwing,” Amethyst said.  “Believe me, I have sat around bored out of my mind while Pearl talked about shadows on cave walls and shit.  Well, it was fun when I was little because she’d actually do shadow puppets with her hands.  Hey, she’s really good at those - if you’re looking for some kind of wholesome sleepover activity you should ask her to show you.”

“That is actually kind of a helpful suggestion.”

“I’m as shocked as you are,” Amethyst said, and shot her a fleeting half-grin.

“I still think you should take a book,” Peridot said, scooting herself to lie with her back on the couch seat and her legs up over the back cushion.

“Oh yes, I probably will.  I’m halfway through  _ The Pillow Book, _ which seems vaguely appropriate.”

“What’s it about?”

“It doesn’t exactly have a plot.  It’s a sort of miscellany by a woman who lived at one of Earth’s old imperial courts and kept making lists of her opinions.  She’s observant and a little catty, I like her.  It’s actually easier to like them in books where you can imagine them as Gems if you want to.”  Lapis hugged her knees and tucked the hem of her skirt under her toes.  “I’ll be glad when all this figuring out how to do things is over.  The only part of new relationships that’s worth the trouble is the enthusiasm.  I know that’s unromantic, but nothing’s made me happier than things with Pearl starting to feel settled and predictable.  Oh!  I’m brilliant.  If we run out of things to talk about I’ll get her started on that organisational chart she’s probably done fifteen times in her head already.  Predictability.”

“You’re worried about running out of things to talk about?” Peridot asked.

“Well, not worried enough to ask Jasper a question about  _ Star Wars  _ or  _ Sailor Moon.   _ I just wonder what it’s going to be like trying to fit together a Pearl-and-me evening with a Jasper-and-Pearl evening.  Though we do have Pearl as the common denominator.  We may just curl up together and listen to music while we read.  That’s what we tend to default to.”  She picked at a loose thread on the cover of the beanbag.  “Everything feels so artificial and careful.  I was the one who asked for all this take-it-slow business and now it’s embarrassing to ask to drop it.  I’ve managed to make them both think I’ll be  _ traumatised _ if they do anything too soon instead of just  _ annoyed.” _

“Okay, so you officially have permission to jump Jasper,” Amethyst said.  “You know, if you need it.  Like is that what you’re getting at? They’re being super careful because they don’t want you to bolt and you just want to nail her already?”

“Is that a hardware metaphor?” Peridot asked, swivelling her upside-down head to look from Amethyst to Lapis.  “But if you tell them you’ve changed your mind, why would _ they  _ mind?”

“They wouldn’t.  It’s just embarrassing.  I hate having to  _ explain myself.” _

“I hate it too, but it gets to a point where you either do it or you’re stuck,” Amethyst pointed out.  “Do it fast like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

“I’ve never had one of those.”

“Eh, I’ve only ever ripped ‘em off other people.”

“I don’t think I’ll try to do it tonight.  It probably  _ is _ better to just see how we do spending more time together.  And both of them were so enthusiastic and hopeful about it, it was quite sweet.”  She started tucking a pinch of skirt between each of her toes.  “And right now I’m putting off going there even though I actually want to be there with them.”

“Would you like us to throw you out?” Peridot asked kindly.  “I can give you the bum’s rush all the way to Jasper’s door.”

“I think you’d better.”

“I’m very supportive like that!” Peridot kicked up her legs and attempted a backward roll off the couch that led to a crash landing in a box of hubcaps.  “I’m okay.”

Despite hobbling slightly, she kept her word.  “Okay,” she said, just before they reached the door.  “Good luck!  Be yourself!  Act natural!  Other well-meant advice that I’ve never found helpful.  Just…”  She paused, looking as if she wanted to say something else.  “They’re really important to you, right?”

“Yes, of course,” Lapis said, mildly surprised.  

“Well, just concentrate on that and I’m sure you’ll do the right thing.  Right?  Right.  I’m going.  Good luck!”  She walked away backwards, both hands out with thumbs up, and reversed around the corner of the tunnel so that her thumbs were the last part that disappeared.

_ That was… kind but weird.  Which I suppose is the essence of being friends with Peridot.  All right.  I have a book if things get boring.  I have a little perfume on in case things are the opposite of boring.  I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.   _ She knocked at the door.  There was no answer, so she knocked again a little more emphatically.  Still nothing.  Reasoning that if she was invited it didn’t exactly count as intruding, she slid open the door and nudged aside the curtain.  The light was on but there was no one there.  

After a moment’s hesitation she decided to forge ahead and just apologise if she wasn’t supposed to let herself in.  From the look of the place she thought Pearl must have tidied up recently.  She wasn’t certain, but she had the strong impression that Jasper was a little less houseproud.  The mattresses were stacked into a couch, the pillows were artfully, symmetrically arranged along its back and there was a fresh bunch of flowers standing on the bookcase.  It really was a cosy, pretty little lair the way Pearl had fixed it up.  It would be ridiculous if there were one more room between the three of them, but she almost wanted one of her own to have Pearl do the same for her.

She sat down on the couch and was immediately reminded of Jasper sitting beside her, blushing and fidgeting and desperate to be touched.   _ If she gets like that again, well, I’m sure Pearl will take the lead.  I really wouldn’t be playing fair if I tried to get her onto the subject.  Even if I’m sure she would enjoy it.  I’m in trouble before I start.  I could be just as unfair working on Pearl, of course.  No, that is  _ not _ how I want to play it.  It’s not as if I can’t  _ flirt _ with them, just nothing underhanded.  I’m doing fine so far, even if I do idiotic things like grabbing Jasper’s ass and running away.   _

That had been an impulsive act and really not her best work.  She’d been startled first by how  _ nice _ it felt to squeeze a handful of Jasper’s bottom (like a really warm stress ball), which had slowed her getaway, and then by the strength of Jasper’s arms seizing her round the waist and the heat of her mouth on the back of her neck.  Then it had turned out to be a raspberry, which was ridiculous but had made her body buzz down to her toes.  She’d run off feeling all flushed and elated and then locked herself in the bathroom to quietly die of embarrassment.  Death by embarrassment had quickly given way to fervent masturbation and the sort of orgasm that left her all wobbly legged.  She’d decided to count it as a qualified success, mostly because of the orgasm.

_ I need to calm down.  Jasper’s bottom is a side issue.  I’m just focusing on it because it’s so... prominent.  The actual problem there is about touching her and her touching me and how it feels disproportionately intense whenever it happens.  Cosy Domestic Night is probably an excellent opportunity just to, well, cuddle up to her a bit and normalise that so it doesn’t seem like a big feverish deal every single time, like with Pearl.  It’s so  _ lovely  _ with Pearl, it’s so  _ easy _ now.  Will it be like that with both of them?  No… I think Jasper’s got to be different.  Good but different. _

She got up to try to distract herself, left her book on the couch and walked around the room.  Such a strange room with these rough rock walls, a room that was made to imprison Jasper and then became a place where she felt  _ comfortable,  _ her safe cosy place for love and dreams.  Thinking about it that way filled her with upside-down feelings about herself and their dark place under the sea.  Well, not  _ their _ dark place.   _ She’d _ chosen it for her revenge, for a prison where she would lock herself to keep Jasper trapped.  She didn’t think about it much now, it was appropriately submerged.  Why did it have to surface now?

_ It’s not like that any more.  I’m not like that any more.  All right, I probably am, but I wouldn’t  _ do _ that any more and that has to count for something.  I am psyching myself out quite brutally, aren’t I?  Next I’ll be thinking I should move to the moon.  _ She stopped in front of Jasper’s three-paned mirror and stuck her tongue out at herself.  That silly red and black shirt was lying folded on top of a kind of wicker box or hamper.  That was definitely Pearl’s work; it was folded with geometric precision.   _ Just as relief for my feelings I will be nosy this once. _  She lifted the side of the folded shirt to see what was underneath.  Another folded shirt; that served her right.  It was the kind of cheap teeshirt they sold on the boardwalk, grey with a big red underlined “100” on the chest (Pearl always folded teeshirts so that the design on the chest showed perfectly).  The “100” was glittery.  It was impressively tacky.  Under that was another teeshirt, black with the words “GLAM ROCK” on it.  Was that a joke?  They were also glittery.  And leopard print.  Under that was something silky and flimsy and ivory-white with soft lace edges; she couldn’t tell what without lifting everything out and she already had three layers pried up sideways.  It abruptly occurred to her that she was taking her nosiness slightly too far for good form; there was “I was curious and took a peek” and then there was “I ransacked your wardrobe.”  She replaced the shirts and patted them down so that everything looked undisturbed.

She was making further faces at herself in the mirror when the door rumbled back and Pearl came in.  She gave a little glad squeak and hurried over to hug Lapis.

“You’re here!  I’m glad I’m not the only one early.  It’s nice to be early, though, isn’t it?  Time to prepare.”  She leaned back, holding Lapis’ hands, and beamed at her.

“I thought you’d be Jasper.  I hope it doesn’t matter that I came in to wait.”

“I don’t think it will, and if it does it was all my idea and you’re innocent.”

“Not really.  I’m so tempted to snoop, here in the inner sanctum.”  A sneaky little un-confession, admitting to wanting to do what she’d already begun doing, fishing for permission.

“Looking at the spines of all the books?” Pearl asked sympathetically.  “That way lies disappointment, I’m afraid.  I’ve had to accept that although she’s wonderful and delightful and gorgeous, we’ll probably never share literary taste.  Then there’s the shirt collection.”

“Shirt collection?”   _ I did  _ not _ set that up - I’m allowed to take it. _

“Yes, she has all these strange tacky shirts that she keeps buying because she thinks they’re funny, or they just seem to link into an ideal she’s somehow building up in her head of Earth summer.  She’ll bring them home and put them away neatly and just leave them there, and I’ll say when were you planning on using that, and she’ll say oh, I thought I’d wear it in the summertime.  I pointed out that the weather makes no practical difference and she could just wear them now if she likes them - not that I’m impatient to be seen in public with some of them - and she just smiled and said, ‘No, I’m looking forward to wearing them in summertime.’”  Pearl shrugged and smiled herself.  “I get the impression there’ll be a lot of hand-in-hand walks along the beach, and ice cream, and she’d like me to wear floaty pastel sundresses.  I like the sound of all of it except the ice cream.”

“I wonder if I’m included in that ideal.  I can do floaty sundresses but I’m not sure about pastels.”

“I’m sure you are.  She has two hands, after all, so the walks will be just fine.”

“Ah,  _ but _ she can’t carry ice cream that way.”

“Ah,  _ but _ that’s how I can participate without having to eat any myself; I’ll carry the cone for her and hold it up when she wants a lick.  Besides, ice cream  _ looks _ pretty so I’ll enjoy that about it.  And the other thing she’s mentioned is hoping that she’ll be able to enjoy the water in summer.  I shouldn’t - well, no, I  _ will _ tell you without specific details.  She had a little bit of a breakthrough earlier today concerning that which was very, very encouraging.  We don’t know yet if it will last or apply outside the circumstances it happened in, but it was lovely seeing how happy it made her.  A bit like when you kissed her and just enjoyed it, really.”  Pearl brushed a soft little kiss against her cheek.  “So isn’t that good news?”

“Lovely news.  I take it you’re being mysterious because you’re trying to preserve a surprise?”

“Exactly.”

“Then I’ll pry no further.  Maybe I should change into a floaty sundress before Jasper shows up; do you think she’d like that?”

“Hmm.”  Pearl stepped back and looked her up and down.  “I think it really has to be seasonally appropriate to tickle her fancy.  Besides, you look floaty and sunny all the time.”

“Well, sure, but it’s not a  _ dress,  _ it’s a top and a skirt.  What’s… autumnal shading into wintry?  But cute and the type of thing she might like?”

“A big soft sweater, maybe?”  Pearl suggested.  “I didn’t think you’d be interested in - no, wait, we already  _ know _ this.”  She whisked the red and black shirt off the top of the wicker hamper and shook it out.  “It’s a  _ fait accompli _ that she thinks this is cute.  She didn’t want me to take it off last time; she just burrowed up under it.”

“I suppose that’s the greatest possible recommendation,” Lapis said, amused.  “Here, wear this, I had sex in it.”

“Well, it  _ has _ been washed since then,” Pearl said, blushing very slightly.  “But yes.  And I’d like to see you wear it, I think red would suit you for a change.  Why not try it on?”

“Well, if  _ you’d _ like it, here goes.”  She slipped her arms into the sleeves as Pearl held it up for her.  “My hands won’t even show!”

“We can roll up the sleeves, silly.”

“There’s room for both of us.  Get in here with me.  Look!  You take the left sleeve and I’ll take the right, and we can put our spare arms round each other’s waists.  Ta-daa!”  She bumped her hip against Pearl’s, both of them giggling.  “And now the ultimate test of co-operation - can we button it up?”

“Oh my goodness!  A more challenging challenge than the most intricate fusion dance.  We must be in  _ perfect _ unison.  Here, you hold your side still and I’ll try to jiggle the button in.”

“I bet it helps if you poke your tongue out of the corner of your mouth.”

“Oh hush.  I nearly have it in - see if you can…” Pearl gave a fizzling giggle through her nose.  “See if you can spread the opening a little wider, this sounds  _ terrible.” _

“You can do it - there, see!  So dextrous.”

“Strictly speaking, I’m sinister, since you gave me the left sleeve.”

“I want to lead on the next one.”

She was just getting the hang of it when the door slid back again and Jasper shouldered her way past the curtain.  She stopped and looked at them wide-eyed, and they blinked back owlishly.  After a moment Jasper turned away, clapping a hand over her mouth, and shook with muffled laughter.

“Don’t  _ laugh,” _ Pearl said indignantly.

“What else am I supposed to do when you’re being so fricking cute?” she protested, turning back.  “Hold on, I need to get a picture - wait, I still suck at this thing…” She dug her new work phone out of a pocket and dabbed at its screen with the tip of her pinky finger.

“Oh no,” said Lapis, “I refuse to be on the internet.”

“Personal use only, I promise!”

“Well, that’s all right,” Pearl said.  “Anyway, the internet wouldn’t be interested in  _ us.” _

“You’d better mean that promise,” Lapis said doubtfully.  “And I have to approve it before you can save it.”

“Wouldn’t have picked you to be shy, but okay.  Smile, cuties.”  She held up the phone and made it go click.

“I’m not  _ shy,  _ I just like to have some control of my image.”  Lapis shrugged out of her side of the shirt and went over to Jasper.  “Bob down, please.”

“Right.”  Jasper knelt obligingly and Lapis stepped in close, turning to lean back against her inside the frame of her arms.  “Hold on, I think I have to get out of camera mode and find where it went - there it is.”  She angled the phone to let Lapis see the screen.

“Hmm,” she said thoughtfully.

“You should have smiled too.  I mean, you’re still cute poking your tongue out, but you would have matched Pearl.”

“I wanted to contrast, and anyway, I smiled with my eyes.  Approved, you can keep it.”

“Let me see too,” Pearl said, wriggling in under Jasper’s arm.  “Oh good, the flash didn’t give me red eyes.  I think we look sweet.”

“Ooh, and Steven showed me this app where you can put like pretend stickers and glitter and things on the picture.  Like this, like  _ this _ \- see, little love hearts.”

“Rejected, so tacky,” Lapis said, grinning.

“C’mon, you like it.  Look, music notes!”

“Oh, I like those,” Pearl said.  “Can you add a border of lace?”

“I  _ think _ they’ve got something like that.  How’s that?”

“Lovely!”

“There’s so much stuff on this photo now you won’t be able to see  _ us,” _ Lapis said.  She poked at the screen and put a tiara on Pearl’s head.

“And one for you,” Pearl said, reaching in to add a bow to Lapis’ head.

“Ooh, I can give you sunglasses.”

“Indoors at night?”

“The way really cool people wear them.”

“Oh, my darling, I am  _ not _ cool, I accepted that shortly after people started using the word in that sense.”  She tipped back her head to look at Jasper.  “You’re being quiet.”

“I’m just enjoying hugging you two together.  That’s new.  You’re still going to wear this, huh?”  She touched Pearl’s shirtsleeve; she had put the whole thing back on.

“I just thought it would be fun to look nice for you.”

“You always look nice.”  She kissed the top of Pearl’s head.

“I’m not interested in looking nice,” Lapis said, putting a witch’s hat over the bow.

“You little liar,” Pearl said fondly.  “Guess who wanted to dress up for you, Jasper?  We were considering a big, soft sweater.  Oh!  And you could wear thick snuggly-looking socks with it.”

“You’re the one with a thing about socks lately,” Jasper said.  

“Exactly, that part is for me.  But I think it’s a completely appropriate ensemble for a cosy evening at home together.  Do you think you could come up with something, Lapis?”

“What colour?”

“Hmmm… a soft warm brown for the sweater, like milky tea, and baby-blue for the socks.”

“You settled on that suspiciously quickly,” Lapis said, nudging Pearl’s hip with her own again.  

“This is the type of thing I can be decisive about.  And a big thick roll neck.  And the bottom hem should come down just past mid-thigh but still above the knee.  The sleeves should be just fingertip length.  Actually, I’ll show you what I have in mind, hold this.”  She wriggled out of the flannel shirt, bundled it into Lapis’ arms and stepped out from Jasper’s arms with a little twirl, her clothes changing with a quick bright glow.  “Just like this!”

“Can I take another photo?”  Jasper asked.  “That’s seriously cute too.”

“Then you wear that and I’ll wear this,” Lapis said, pulling the shirt back on and buttoning the front.  “Problem solved, we’re both acutely cute and - hey, I notice Jasper isn’t participating.”

“Jasper is  _ appreciating,” _ Jasper said, taking Pearl’s picture.  “Also, Jasper has a new lock screen.”

“I just think you could make the same effort,” she said, turning up the sleeves.

“Number one, I’m pretty bad at changing my clothes.  Number two, I’m not sure what you’d like.  I know all about what Pearl thinks looks good on me, but you need to give me something to work with.”

“Hmm.”   _ Go and put on the lacy silk thing, I want to see what it is.  Damn it, that’s not Cosy Domestic Night-appropriate.   _ “Ballgown.”

“Pscht.”  Jasper rolled her eyes.  

“Okay, too formal.  I guess you’re okay as you are.”  She tilted her head to kiss Jasper’s cheek.  “This? Feels comfortable.  Even if this silly shirt is as far as possible from my style.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”  Jasper kissed her in return.  “Wearing a silly shirt and everything.”

“Oh good, you’re reading the Shōnagon,” Pearl said.  She had happily twirled herself, humming, over to the couch and was examining the book Lapis had brought in.  “I should reread Murasaki’s diary to keep you company.  I’m so pleased you found an Earth book you like.”  She paused as if there had been something else she was about to say, and then sighed.  “The last bits of Gem literature I have are even more out of date than this.  Who knows what they’re doing now?”

“Beats me,” Jasper admitted.  “I always just read stories, not literature - and honestly, I like the stories you get here better.  There’s more variety and they don’t always have to have a moral supporting the Diamond Authority. Sometimes I’d secretly skip those parts.”

“Oh my goodness, you  _ rebel,” _ Lapis said.  

“Ha, yeah, you could see the deviant tendencies early on if you looked.  Not that I was seriously questioning anything, I was just kind of bored with getting nagged to believe what I believed already.”

“Those heavy morals must have been a reaction to Rose’s rebellion,” Pearl said.  “Obviously there was always a strong thread of Diamond-worship in the canon, but even in that kind of pulp adventure genre you love, authors didn’t feel the need to be that didactic.”

“That’s true.  I mean, I remember the stuff I read when I was a lot younger was basically best friends and true love saving the world, sometimes with explosions, and the Diamond parts were like an undercurrent you could count on to be there; they didn’t have to stop the action for the characters to talk about how important it was like they did later.  Sometimes they’d have to say how the way they loved their comrades didn’t even count compared with the way they loved their Diamond.  Now I think about it, there started to be a lot more stories with a big self-sacrifice thing.  Once I found a book where two different Gems loved just each other and I was thinking, holy shit, are you allowed to  _ write  _ this?  Should I  _ report _ this?  But they fixed it by the end because one of them got broken and the other one realised once she was gone that what she’d been feeling wasn’t real love, she was just confused and she was way happier once she went back to living a normal life.  I felt really messed up after reading that because I realised that wasn’t the ending I’d wanted and it felt like I’d failed a surprise test.   _ Then _ I got nervous about whether the book really was a test because someone  _ knew _ what I was like so they planted it for me to find and they’d been watching how I reacted to it.  It’s… it’s funny now,” she concluded uneasily.

“It’s… really not,” Pearl said, frowning in concern.

“This conversation is  _ not _ in the spirit of Cosy Domestic Night,” Lapis protested.  “No more literary criticism or - or things that have messed us up.  Pleasant topics, quick.  A diversion.  Steven!  Cute or what?”

“Yeah, agreed, no bummer subjects,” Jasper said.  She got up from behind Lapis, tucking her phone away.  “I did kind of wonder if we’d get stuck or bored.  Am I the only one who’d want to watch a movie?”

“Depending on what it is,” Lapis said doubtfully.  “Are we talking best friends, true love and saving the world with explosions?”

“I don’t know about explosions, but Steven and Connie both recommended it so I think best friends are a lock and true love is pretty likely.  Plus it’s animated, and you do like that, right?”

“It doesn’t mean I automatically like anything animated, but let’s take a look,” she said.

“Is this it?” Pearl asked, picking up a DVD case from the TV cart.   _ “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?   _ From the look of the cover art, not the Nausicaa from the Odyssey.  Let’s watch it.  I’m sorry I spoiled the mood.”

“How did you spoil the mood?” Jasper asked.  “I was the one with the depressing personal anecdote.”

“I was the one who brought up literature and elicited the depressing personal anecdote.”

“And I was the one who brought in the book that made you bring up literature so we’re all to blame and let’s move on,” Lapis said hastily.  She couldn’t help feeling that conversations like this didn’t happen when she wasn’t there.  “Sit down, sit down, be cosy.”  She gave Jasper a shove towards the couch and confiscated the DVD case from Pearl.  “I’ll put this on.”

“Do you know how?” Pearl asked, glancing back over her shoulder as she followed Jasper couchward.

“I may give the appearance of holding myself aloof from the barbaric culture of this backwater planet, but even I’ve figured out how to work a DVD player.”  Lapis looked back with a quick smile.  “Peridot took care of that - she’s a horrible teacher but she’s so  _ indignant _ that you don’t know how to do something, she kind of forces you to learn so she’ll calm down.  Okay, there.”  She picked up the remote control and scampered over to the couch where the others had settled themselves, Pearl beside Jasper and nestled in under her arm.  “Well.  This is the type of thing tonight is for, right?  Make room, and I’ll try not to get too weird or squirmy.”  She sat down on the other side and hitched herself sideways until she was against Jasper’s large, warm hip.  “Do I get an arm around me too?”

“You do if you want one.”

“Yes, please.”  She pulled up her knees and pulled the shirt down over them, tucking the hem under her toes.  It was making her furiously self-conscious to sit like this, far too warm inside and out, but the combination of the hip to lean against and the arm around her was so comfortable it felt like luxury.  She rested her head against Jasper’s side and closed her eyes for a moment, just letting herself absorb the fact that she wanted to be here and was wanted here too.  She could feel a silly little smile spreading on her lips, but it didn’t seem worth getting embarrassed about.  Jasper have her a gentle little squeeze and she curled her toes up contentedly, hidden inside shirt and skirt.  She heard a muffled little giggle from Pearl, and then Jasper whispered, “Psst, pixie.  You have to press play, it’s just sitting on the menu screen.”

“Oh!  I know that.”  She opened her eyes in a hurry and fumbled with the remote control.  “I was just relaxing for a moment.  There.”

“You looked so happy.”  Pearl reached across Jasper’s lap, took Lapis’ hand and drew it over to kiss the backs of her fingers.   _ “That _ is in the spirit of Cosy Domestic Night.”

“Good.”

It took a little while for her to really concentrate on the movie, because she was more inclined to focus on Jasper cuddling her and Pearl holding her hand and idly playing with her fingers, but the animation really was beautifully done, as was the music, and she found herself drawn into the story as they were.  Jasper was predictably completely engaged and kept gasping at anything remotely surprising and tensing up at any sign of danger.  Lapis and Pearl exchanged a few amused glances across her midsection.  It soon became clear that Nausicaa was exactly the kind of courageous, warm-hearted heroine that Jasper always fell violently in love with; the fact that she was a princess was really just icing on the cake.  Initially Lapis found her a bit  _ much,  _ a little too good to be true.  Oddly, she found she liked her better after seeing her almost berserk with rage and grief after her father was killed.  Nausicaa was someone who would stay calm and gentle when a frightened animal bit her, but she wasn’t  _ impossibly _ serene and pure of heart.  That way it felt a bit less like she was criticising Lapis just by existing.

What took her by surprise was how upset  _ she _ got when the captured baby Ohm was being hurt to provoke the others.  She found herself almost burrowing into Jasper’s side, hiding half her face but unable to cover it completely because then she wouldn’t be able to see what was going on.  Jasper was crying, naturally, but trying to hold it back with deep gusty sniffs, distractedly patting her shoulder, and on the other hand Pearl was audibly fretting - it would be all right, wouldn’t it?  They wouldn’t just be allowed to get away with it, Nausicaa would be able to stop them, oh, but she was so hurt and she was being so brave, it  _ would _ be all right, wouldn’t it?  Jasper sniffed enormously and softly shushed her.

Lapis reached across Jasper’s lap to find Pearl’s hand again and squeezed it tight.  She was definitely not going to cry, but she would take all the comfort she could find as long as this lasted.  Pearl squeezed back gratefully and said, “She is  _ so _ like Steven.  I don’t know if I can bear it if he has to go through something like that.”

“Well, he won’t have to,” Jasper said, her voice thick and hoarse.  “Not by himself, because he’ll have all of us.”

Lapis stayed dry-eyed through the climax of the film and then found herself sniffling with relief through the ending sequence.  The folded cuffs of the flannel shirt turned out to be good tear-blotters.  Jasper shifted from patting her shoulder to awkwardly rubbing the top of her head, which felt kindly and comforting but was ruining her hair, and Pearl found a box of tissues from somewhere and used most of them herself.

“That was  _ very _ good,” she said, blowing her nose, “but also a bit harrowing.  Is everyone all right?  Perhaps next time we should try to find an innocuous comedy.”

“But I  _ like _ movies that make me cry,” Jasper said.  “It feels good, like cathartic.  Am I using that right?”

“Exactly right,” Pearl said, passing her the tissues.  “Lapis, my darling, are you okay?”

“Yes,” Lapis said, sitting up straighter and trying to sound decisive.  “Absolutely fine and ready to discuss favourite parts and characters.”

“I’m going to shock  _ everyone _ and say I really liked Nausicaa,” Jasper said, grinning.  “And all the scenes when she was flying, and fighting, and saving people and bugs and just being awesome.”

“I thought Princess Kushana was a very interesting character,” Pearl said thoughtfully.  “She was someone I still wanted to know more about after the story was over.”

“Whereas I liked the sarcastic one with the beard she had helping her,” Lapis said.  “I was glad he survived even though he didn’t exactly deserve to.  Actually, I think that was one of the things I liked most about it, the way things didn’t exactly turn out according to what people deserved, except of course Nausicaa deserved to succeed and survive and I’m so glad she  _ did. _  There were things that still couldn’t be made right by what she did, too, which feels truer than a completely happy ending.  And… I’m kind of tired and can’t think of anything else intelligent to say.  I liked how Lord Yupa had that huge fluffy moustache that whiffled around when he talked.  Greg should try to grow his face hair out like that, just to entertain the world.”

“Did anyone else think the way the giant warrior fell apart was kind of unnecessarily gross?” Jasper asked.

“It seemed excessive,” Pearl said, wrinkling her nose.  “I was worried it was going to be upsetting for you anyway.  I know how you feel about characters made to be weapons.”

“Oddly not with him.  I think he was too meaty-looking.  All insides on the outside.  I did feel really sorry for him, being forced to obey even when he was falling apart, but I didn’t get that painful  _ that’s-me _ thing I get with the Iron Giant and clone troopers.”

“What if he was orange, though?” Lapis asked, poking her in the side with her forefinger.

“Let’s just all be glad he wasn’t.  Don’t poke me, missy, you were happy enough to hug me when there were giant pillbugs stampeding around.”

“It’s just a little poke to avenge my hair that you demolished.”  She ran her fingers through it, trying to get it approximately back where it should be.  “I’m still happy enough to hug you if it comes to that.”

“Oh.  Lucky me!”

“What should we do now?” Pearl asked, leaning across Jasper’s lap.

“I’ve heard you know your way around shadow puppets.”

_ “There’s  _ a skill I don’t have much use for.  Do you actually want to see that?”

“Even if she doesn’t, I do!” Jasper said.

“You’re a fan of shadow puppets?”

“I’m mainly a fan of finding out new things about you, and how weird and nifty and talented you keep turning out to be, like even more, just when I think I’ve pretty much got an idea of the scope of it.”  She kissed the top of Pearl’s head.

“They’re not that special,” Pearl said, laughing but looking extremely pleased and a bit flushed.

“But they’re so random they remind me there’s no end to what I still get to find out about you!”

“You’re going to turn my head.  All right, I’m going to work out how best to angle the lamp for the full effect.  Why don’t you fold out the bed?”  Pearl hopped down from the couch and started fiddling with the small lamp on top of the bookshelf.

_ Does bed mean sex? _  Lapis wondered.  _ Well, that was a thought rich in subtlety and nuance, what am I, a Ruby?  No, but does it?  How do I find out without making it sound like I do or don’t want it to mean sex, depending on which would be more embarrassing or disappointing?  Ugh, Jasper had to go and introduce  _ ambiguity _ with her weirdo sleeping hobby. _  She kept that thought to herself and watched how Jasper set up the bed.  It was slightly more sophisticated than just putting two mattresses on the floor; she’d sewn big Velcro straps to their sides to join them together so they didn’t slide apart under her weight or movement.  

“The first couple of nights I woke up with the mattresses three feet apart and my ass on the floor,” Jasper explained.  “The join’s pretty much exactly hip level on me, so it needs some reinforcement.  Help me with the sheets?”

“We could probably just build you a bed that  _ fits,”  _ Lapis said, closely watching what Jasper did in an attempt not to show that she didn’t have the faintest idea how to make a bed.  “Not that I know how, but it’s got to be possible.”

“Probably, but it’d take up a lot of space and I like having the couch thing too.  The other way I could go is knocking out some more of the walls so I’d have room for both.  Garnet’d probably help me with that, but it’d be a big job with a lot of spoil to clear out and it just hasn’t felt worth the hassle.”  She shook out the quilt and laid it over the bed.  “Maybe one day.”

“So we just sit  _ on _ the bed, or is it required to get  _ into _ the bed?”

“On or in, whatever’s comfortable.”  Jasper pulled off her boots and sat down in the middle of the quilt.

“Jasper.”

“What?”

_ “You have cute little sock feet like Peridot.  Explain yourself.” _

“My feet aren’t  _ little. _  But I guess it’s nice to hear they’re cute.  I dunno, habit?  They’re just standard issue these days and they’re comfy.  One thing from the uniform I wanted to keep.”  She wiggled her toes.

“Socks!  When did  _ socks _ become the thing?  I remember when bare feet were the height of style, effortless, casual elegance!  No wonder I got culture shock when I went back to Homeworld.”  She flopped down beside Jasper, hoping she’d found the right spacing for not excessively close and overly eager but not excessively distant either.  

“Culture sock,” said Jasper, and waggled her eyebrows.  “And they still look good on you.  You’re just vintage now.”

“I hope everyone is ready for the famous shadow puppet show,” Pearl called out.  “Jasper, would you be a dear and turn off the rest of the lights?”

“On it.”  She bounced up and went off to do it just as Lapis had been about to lean against her, leaving her feeling vaguely and unreasonably miffed.  It wasn’t as if she’d asked Jasper to keep still and be a good cushion, and it  _ was _ as if Jasper had her odd little obedience thing.  Once they were in darkness Pearl snapped on the small lamp and angled the shade to project a circle of yellow light on the wall.

“Maybe I’m just being dense, but why don’t you shine the light out of your head?” Lapis asked as Jasper sat back down next to her with a thump that bounced her slightly..  

“Well, I  _ can,  _ but I can’t keep my head completely still and I find it oddly disconcerting if the light bobbles around at the same time as the shadows are moving.  Now, of course everyone can do easy ones like bunny rabbit and bird,  _ but _ have you seen  _ elephant?”   _ Pearl always blossomed at an opportunity to show off, and her eyes were big and bright as she produced a remarkably convincing shadow elephant, followed by a giraffe, a crab, a monkey, two bears - she claimed you could tell one was a polar bear and the other was a grizzly bear, although the difference wasn’t obvious to her audience - a wolf, a bulldog and a dolphin, before finishing off with a swan.  “I haven’t done that in  _ years _ but it came right back.  It’s nice to have a few hidden talents.”  She bowed while they applauded and then hopped into Jasper’s lap.  “Don’t you think we’re doing well?”

“Shh, if you call attention to it it’ll stop working!”  Lapis clambered in beside her and hugged her.     
“But that was impressive.  Some of the shapes you did with your hands didn’t look as if they could cast a shadow like that at all, but there it was. How did you work it out?”

“A lot of boredom and practice - and needing to entertain Amethyst.  It took a lot to get her to just sit quietly for a while.  We’d have nice times, though; she’d find out about some animal new to her and try to describe it, often in very confused terms, and I would work out how to puppet it.  She tried to learn too, but it does help to have longer, thinner fingers.  She said her best shadow puppet was a rock.”

“Yeah, I think I’d be about the same,” Jasper said, and yawned.

“You shouldn’t be sleepy,” Lapis objected.  “You haven’t  _ done  _ anything today.  I think you should at least need to have a fight to warrant yawning like that.”

“It’s habitual,” Pearl said.  “She wouldn’t need to if she didn’t  _ think _ she needed to.”

“I don’t even  _ think _ I do,” Jasper said.  “This is one hundred percent self-indulgent, want not need.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to pass out.  I’m just going to enjoy feeling sleepy and warm and cosy.”  She leaned back on her hands and grinned at them contentedly.  “That’s one of the things I looked forward to about having you both here, believe it or not.”

“I know, darling, it’s just such an odd thing to do recreationally,” Pearl said.

“Sure,” Jasper agreed easily.  “It’s pretty low on the list of oddest things I do, when you look at the big picture.”

“Don’t you feel as if you’ve just lost the time you spent doing it, though?” Lapis asked.  “I’ve slept three times now, and only one of those gave me a dream.  The other two were just solid nothing.  I mean, I suppose they were relaxing but I can relax awake.  Is that normal, to sleep without dreaming, or do you think I did something wrong?”

“Nah, I don’t always dream.  Anyway, I get the impression it’s really different for different people.  Like some can fall asleep right away when they want to - Steven can and I usually can - and some need a long time to wind down and get comfy.  Like you, I guess?  You planning to try to sleep tonight?”

“Oh.  Not really.  Do you mind?  I thought I would stay awake with Pearl.”

“Oh, go for it, whatever you want to do is fine.”  There was an awkward pause and a feeling of stalling, sputtering to a stop.  Pearl was glancing from Jasper to Lapis as if wondering whether one of them would solve the problem first or she would have to try to do it.  Mercifully, she seemed to take a different tack.

“Well, what  _ I _ want to do now is one of  _ my _ favourite elements of a quiet evening in,” she said, getting up and crossing to switch on the lights.  “And Jasper’s too, of course, and Lapis, you can participate just as much as you want to or just observe.”  She went over to the dressing table and picked up a hairbrush, looping a few elastic bands over her wrist, and came back to brush Jasper’s hair.

“You groom her all the time anyway,” Lapis pointed out.  “It’s not just an evening-in thing.”

“You could too,” Jasper said diffidently.  “I mean, if you felt like it.”

“I have a suggestion,” Lapis said.  “If you would  _ like _ me to brush your hair, just say so and we’ll proceed on the  _ assumption _ that you only want me to do things I feel like doing.  Don’t you think we’ve got far enough to take that much for granted?”  Once she’d said it she was afraid the answer was no, but Jasper had that little crooked half-smile that meant she was quietly but thoroughly pleased.

“Okay then.  I  _ would _ like you to brush my hair.  It’s one of my favourite things, it makes me feel really taken care of, and yeah, I want to feel that way with you too, not just Pearl.”

“All right then, I will.”  She clambered out of Jasper’s lap and went round behind her, where Pearl was looking, if possible, still more pleased.  “Bear in mind I’ve never brushed anyone else’s hair in my life, and  _ my  _ hair has always been short.  I have no idea what to do with a giant pouffy mane like yours.”

“It’s easy,” Pearl said, brushing away.  “Watch what I do and then you can try.  I know it looks wild but Jasper’s hair is actually very soft and surprisingly manageable.  It’s easier if you gather together a section over your hand and smooth that out before you move on.  Do you want to try now?”  She offered the brush.

“Right.”  Lapis took it and drew the bristles cautiously over Jasper’s hair.  They really only slid over the surface, so she could see she’d need to apply a bit more pressure to brush  _ through _ it, but better to start off too light than too heavy.  She could see how this would be sort of satisfying with the rhythmic stroke of the brush, the faint rustling sound and the softness of the hair in your hands, and the way it grew shinier with a bit of attention.  It would probably always have that fluffy flossy sort of texture, whatever you did, but there was definitely a bit of a gloss to it.  She remembered Pearl talking about it hanging down around them like a curtain; she could picture that.  Pretty vividly.

“Do you know how to braid?”  Pearl asked.

“Well, no.  I’ve never had any reason to learn.”

“Want me to teach you?” she asked brightly, giving Lapis’ hip a little bump with her own.

“A chance to show off a special skill, a chance to teach somebody something; you’re having quite a night.  Okay, how do I do that?”

“Just like this.”  Pearl stepped behind her, placing her hands over Lapis’ and resting her chin on her shoulder.  “Gather together a section of hair, like this, and separate it into three equal strands.  Very nice.”

“You’re doing it for me, so of course it’s nice,” Lapis said, smiling.

“I’m just helping you get started.  You’ll hold one strand in one hand, the other two in the other, separated with your fingers like that.  Now you’ll take the right strand and cross it over the middle one.  They’ve changed places.  Bring the left strand over the new middle strand.  And they’ve changed places.  You’ll keep crossing the right, then the left, over the middle.  You try.”

“Do I need to remember which piece was the middle to start with?”

“No, you can forget that as soon as they switch over.”  Pearl drew her hands back and wrapped her arms loosely around Lapis’ waist.

“It looks… wonky.”  Between picturing Jasper bending over her so that her hair fell like a curtain and feeling the warmth of Pearl’s body pressed snugly up to her back, she thought she was doing fairly well to remember right and left.

“The tension is uneven.  That’s all right, with practice you’ll get the feel of how to keep it balanced.  And Jasper’s hair’s very forgiving, if it gets too messy-looking you can just unravel it and start over.  This is the most basic type of braid there is, and it underpins all the more complicated ones.”

“What’s the difference between a braid and a plait?”

“Dialect?  Nothing.  That’s looking better.”

“But it has that lumpy section up above it.”

“This is a practice run so that doesn’t matter at all.  Are you - you  _ are, _ you’re wearing my favourite perfume.”  She squeezed Lapis’ waist.

“I’m going to start over, I think I can do it better a second time.”

“Good.”

She unravelled the strands with her fingers and ran the brush through it all again just to make it smooth.  “You okay under there, Jasper?  I’m not pulling your hair out by the roots or anything?”

“Nope.  Just happy.”

“She’ll have that cat-basking-in-the-sun look on her face,” Pearl said. “Now before you begin braiding, look carefully at those strands.  Are they even?  That’s right, gather a little more into the left.  I like that, Jasper’s favourite shirt, my favourite perfume.”

“Well, I didn’t plan to wear the shirt, but that’s worked out nicely.”  She was a lot happier with this attempted braid; she was getting the hang of holding two strands with one hand and switching them over smoothly.

“May I offer just a little aesthetic suggestion?”

“Let me master the basics before you ask me to do anything  _ aesthetic.” _

“No, not the braiding.  Wearing this shirt.  I notice you still have your own clothes on underneath.  Really, the whole appeal of this style is the  _ implied _ nudity.  The oversized garment hangs loosely around the body and invites us to imagine what’s hidden.  And then, well, the bare legs…”

_ “Pearl,” _ said Jasper.

“Shh, this is for you too.”

“Do you think you’re cunningly talking me into something?” Lapis asked.  “You’re so weird.”  She turned her head to kiss Pearl’s cheek.  “I suppose I must defer to your aesthetic judgement, dear teacher.”  She gave a little twitch to her hips and let the fabric of her skirt drop down around their ankles before it dissolved.  The real, earthly fabric felt strange against her newly bared skin, and it bunched around her as Pearl squeezed her tight, giving a little squeak of happiness.

“Are people taking off clothes back there?” Jasper asked.  

“No, no, we’re putting more on,” Lapis said.  “I’m wearing trousers and an overcoat now.  Pearl’s wearing three or four dresses and a really big hat.”

_ “Oh,  _ what a fibber,” Pearl said gleefully.

“Aren’t  _ you _ too warm in that thick heavy sweater?”

“No, I made it light and fluffy.  But if I want to be covered by something thick and warm and heavy I always have Jasper.”

“No fair being suggestive when I can’t turn round and grab you!” Jasper grumbled.

“You can turn around,” Lapis said, dropping the bunch of hair she was by now braiding extremely badly and dodging clear just as Jasper twisted round and pounced on Pearl with a growl.

“Who ordered something thick and warm and heavy?” she asked over Pearl’s startled shriek and breathless giggling.

“No one,” Lapis said, jumping onto Jasper’s back and sprawling there.  Jasper just grunted and laughed.

“You weigh like a gram,” she said, and bent to kiss Pearl, whose giggles faded into a soft hum of pleasure.  She wrapped her arms around Jasper’s neck, fingers sinking into her hair, and Lapis saw that the fluffy sweater sleeves were fading away too.  Pearl clearly wasn’t interested in only implying nudity any more.  She felt a weird little pang, close to jealousy; it wasn’t that she wanted them to stop, only that she wished she were included.  She was in the wrong place.  She’d just wanted to make as much contact as she could, but Jasper’s back wasn’t the place to do that.  Now she was going to have to  _ ask, _ and it was going to feel clumsy and awkward as hell.  

She rolled off, grabbed Jasper’s arm and jostled it.  Jasper lifted her head, eyes all golden and hazy with desire, and blinked at her.  “Me too,” Lapis said.  “Please?”

Jasper lifted herself up on her elbows, then raised one arm, passing over Lapis and around her, gathering her in, and kissed her softly and heavily.  

_ There’s the curtain,  _ Lapis thought as silky hair brushed her cheek. _  Oh, she feels so ridiculously good.  What am I going to do?   _ As soon as Jasper lifted up, Pearl was there, kissing her eagerly, little hot tongue flickering at her lips, and then everything was a glorious rolling muddle of kissing and being kissed, with hungry wet lips on her mouth and her neck and hands everywhere, large and small, Jasper stroking and squeezing through her shirt and Pearl groping under it to rub her thighs.

“Darling,” Pearl was saying, muffled, “I can’t reach - ow.”

“Sorry,” Jasper said, quickly lifting up on her hands and knees.  “You okay?”

“Perfectly fine, your elbow’s as soft as a feather,” Pearl said ruefully, rubbing a spot on her back.  “I think we need to co-ordinate our efforts or we’ll just get in each other’s way.  And you?  Lapis, my darling, is this what you want?”  She stroked Lapis’ hair back from her face, her own flushed and eager.

“Is ‘this’ both of you?  Yes, please.  Oh, please.”  She wound her arms around Pearl for another deep kiss, luxuriating in the way Pearl’s mouth worked against hers and shifting her legs to wrap around her narrow hips.  She felt rather than saw Jasper lowering herself again, letting her knees slide wider apart and resting her weight on her elbows, covering both of them.  Pearl moaned into her mouth and she opened her eyes to see Jasper was kissing the nape of her neck.  She shifted her weight on one arm and slid her other hand, so large and warm, down the sides of their bodies, coming to rest lightly grasping Lapis’ hip.

“I wonder,” she murmured, her voice deep and dark and husky, “what’s the best way to get the two of you off?  Hmm?”  She slid her hand from Lapis over Pearl’s bottom, nudging her legs apart and pressing her fingers inward.  Lapis felt Pearl tense and relax, pressing back against Jasper with a little murmur of pleasure.  “Aren’t  _ you _ wet?  Does that feel nice?”

“Lapis too,” Pearl said faintly.  She lifted her hips a little.  “For you too, right?” she breathed against Lapis’ cheek.  “It’s not too soon?”

“Not too soon.  Jasper?  Please?  Ooh…”  She felt Jasper’s fingers, warm and slick from touching Pearl, travelling up her inner thigh to brush her lips.  

“Can’t really see what I’m doing, so ‘scuse me if I’m clumsy,” Jasper said.  “How’s this?”

“Ah…”  Lapis couldn’t quite form an answer.  It was sort of ticklish; Jasper was being slightly  _ too _ gentle.  Pearl was gazing at her adoringly and she wanted to give her the reaction  _ she _ wanted, but she was too far gone into actually feeling this to be able to put on a show.  She tried to angle her hips a little better and that encouraged Jasper to press a little more firmly, and  _ then _ the angle was just right and she could rub against her fingers and sweet heat started to ripple through her.  “Oh - oh yes…”

“There, you’ve got it!” Pearl exclaimed, looking back at Jasper.  “Keep going just like that, she loves it.”

“I can see her face too,” Jasper said, kissing Pearl’s shoulder.  

“Well, I hope you appreciate how  _ lovely _ it is.”

“Mmhm.  Yours too.”  She turned her hand, stroking Pearl now, drawing little gasps out of her.  “Though in this position I’m really just giving Lapis the benefit of it.”

“You’re as generous as you are gorgeous,” Pearl breathed.  She was lifting up her bottom, rocking her hips back against Jasper’s hand, her eyelids fluttering closed as she concentrated on the sensation.  “Oh, I shouldn’t be - shouldn’t be so greedy, keeping you to myself.  Do Lapis next.”

“Or you could lie down next to her and make it easy to take care of you both together.  Just a thought.”

Pearl sagged and giggled weakly.  “I’m not quite as smart when my passions are inflamed, you know.”  She rolled onto her back, leaving Lapis feeling oddly uncovered.  It shouldn’t  _ matter _ when she was already inviting Jasper to touch her pussy, but here she was in nothing but a big shirt crumpled up around her waist and she felt a little ridiculous.  Jasper was looking down on her with a kind of feral glint to her smile that had her all flustered, or more so.   _ Dreams aren’t supposed to actually come true.  I refuse to be clairvoyant about sex, that’s just stupid.   _ Jasper placed one hand on her tummy and stroked upward, pushing the shirt higher, and bent to kiss her breasts.  She arched up to meet lush, soft lips and the sweetest pressure and suction.

“Doesn’t she have the most beautiful little breasts?” Pearl was asking.  “Such a perfect teardrop shape, and please appreciate the way her golden speckles cluster along the border of her areolae.”

“Mmhm,” Jasper said, flicking the tip of her tongue against Lapis’ nipple, glancing up at her with eyes full of affection and amusement, as if to say  _ Our Pearl - isn’t she something?   _ Love surged up in her and she turned her head to kiss Pearl at the same time Jasper moved to kiss her smooth, pale tummy.   _ We love our Pearl together,  _ she thought.  She stroked Pearl’s cheek, tracing her lips with her tongue-tip before nuzzling in to a deeper kiss.  Jasper had shuffled down, pressing her lips to Pearl’s silky little mound and drawing her tongue up in a long smooth lick that made Pearl gasp and then melt into soft crooning sounds.  She spread her legs wider as Jasper lapped at her outer folds.

_ “Oh _ my goodness.  Oh, Lapis, isn’t she wonderful?  She’ll do this for you, I promise, you’ll love it, you’ll -  _ oh.”   _ She paused a moment, biting her lower lip.

“You don’t need to keep  _ recommending  _ us to each other, precious Pearl.”  Lapis twined her arms around Pearl, kissing her, feeling her lips tremble and stammer and her breathing hitch and gust.  She’d thought Jasper had forgotten about her for now, and didn’t really mind if she was making Pearl this happy.  Then she felt her hand on her leg, stroking upward again, palm squeezing her thigh and thumb pressing and circling on her mound.  There was nothing urgent about it, more of a gentle massage, and she remembered Pearl’s demonstration of the lazy way Jasper would touch her after she woke up.  How should she  _ talk _ to Jasper now?  “Thank you very much” was polite and would be  _ deeply _ sincere but felt so artificial.  Thank goodness kissing Pearl was a perfect excuse not to say anything.

Pearl was trying to talk to her, though, in little breathless snatches between kisses, nothing she could really understand but conveying a general impression of squirmy joy.

“Are you happy?” she asked.

“Hnnh!”  

“You like that?  I think you do.  Ooh, you’re just so  _ cute!”   _ There was a faint spluttering noise from Jasper.  “Don’t you laugh at me,  _ you _ can see how cute she is.”

“Mmhm.”

“I’m the only one here who can talk, aren’t I?  Your tongue’s busy and Pearl’s forgotten how words work.”

“I have  _ not,  _ I - oh,  _ you _ try being articulate if someone’s licking your clitoris like this.  Jasper my darling,  _ please _ go round and round, that swirly thing I like so -  _ oh.  _  Lapis, please kiss me again, words can’t express how wonderful this is.”

_ I don’t know how anything else will work but loving Pearl together seems to work perfectly so far.  _  Long, dreamy minutes passed with Pearl sighing and gasping in her arms, Jasper quietly, devotedly trying to please them both.  Lapis was extremely conscious of how wet she was getting; nothing was happening that could make her come (not the way she was fairly sure Pearl just came, a soft fluttering climax that made her sweet moon face glow) but there was fever-heat pulsing gently through her thighs and tummy and her pussy felt so tingly and sensitive she thought if Jasper slipped her finger in she might just scream.  

“More please,  _ more _ please,” Pearl was crooning.

“Aren’t  _ you _ greedy?”

_ “Yes,” _ she said exultantly.  “Will you spoil me a little bit more?”

_ “I _ will,” Jasper said.

“Of course  _ you _ will, because you’re  _ such _ a sweet, good girl.”  Pearl combed her fingers into Jasper’s tumbled hair.

“I think I’m quite a good girl,” Lapis said, very mildly nettled.  “I have my moments.”

“Oh, darling bluebell, of course you are.  I never meant anything else.  Jasper needs praise.  She -  _ oh.   _ Oh yes, yes my sweetheart, yes, my lovely tiger, just like that, you’ll make me, make me, make me -”  She caught her breath and trapped Jasper’s head between her thighs, a look of ecstasy blooming on her face.  Her lips moved wordlessly as she gasped in delight before going limp, her cheeks flushed and her damp hair clinging to her forehead.

“That was  _ quick,” _ Lapis murmured, surprised.

“This is what I tried to tell you about,” Jasper said, with that fierce, elated grin.  “If I can get the pace right we can get this kind of cascade thingy going and she just needs a  _ nudge. _  Mind if I try for number three?”

_ “Mind?” _  Pearl repeated faintly.  “Oh…”

“I know  _ you _ don’t mind.”  She kissed Pearl’s thigh, the corners of her mouth curling.  “I’m asking Lapis ‘cause she’s waiting so nicely, but she’s also sopping wet.”

“Now I just want to see if you can do it,” Lapis admitted, with a small answering smile.  “I can wait just a little bit longer.”

_ “Right.   _ I promise.  Hold tight.”  She drew back her hand from between Lapis’ legs and slipped it between Pearl’s, sliding her forefinger deep into her slick, soft pussy while she bent to work with her tongue.  Pearl squeaked and clutched at Jasper’s hair and Lapis’ arm around her waist.  Her deep breathing grew ragged and she arched, tilting her hips to press against Jasper’s hand.  

“Like that… like that…”

“Mmm?”  Jasper looked up through a tangle of hair, not lifting her head; maybe she couldn’t with Pearl’s hand knotted into the crown.  Her eyes were so beautiful, burning gold, and they captured Lapis when she’d thought she would be watching only Pearl.  She must be on a hair trigger by now; while Lapis held her she cried out sharply and sweetly, her body trembling until she subsided with a weak little moan.  Jasper rested her head against Pearl’s inner thigh as her grip on her hair loosened, gazing up at her as if she were the most precious thing in existence.

“Don’t… don’t do any more,” Pearl breathed.  “I think I’ve had all I want for once.  Temporarily.  Oh, how I love you…”

“Like I love you.”  

Lapis felt a little bit lost here, wanting so much to be included in that love but knowing she was really only a bystander.  It seemed like intruding to call attention to herself, even just by kissing Pearl’s forehead, but that got her a shaky-armed hug, long and close.

“I’m so lucky,” Pearl murmured.  “And I  _ never _ thought I’d feel this way.  I don’t know why you both got sidetracked onto  _ me,  _ though, all this should have been for Lapis.”

“Well, I looked at her and she looked at me and we both kind of knew what we wanted to do,” Jasper said, shrugging one shoulder.  “Right?”  She reached out and gave a little squeeze to Lapis’ knee.

“That’s pretty much how I remember it.  And you were being excessively adorable, so we just… adored you.”  She kissed Pearl’s cheek, stroking back her hair.  “It’s both easy and rewarding.”

“Well Jasper, you need to actually reward Lapis for her patience.  And I would help the way she did, but I’m too relaxed to move.”

Jasper looked up at Lapis, eager but with a touch of hesitation.  “Just like I did for Pearl?” she asked.

“Could I ask for one change?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“Well, your hair tends to go all over the place and I’d… like to be able to see what you’re doing.  Can you put it up?”

“Here I thought you’d ask for something tricky.  Pearl, have you still got those elastics?”

“One,” Pearl said, holding out her hand.  “I don’t know what happened to the others, I may have squirmed them off.”

Jasper hooked the elastic band off Pearl’s wrist with one finger, and Lapis was struck again by the sheer difference of scale between their bodies.  She sat up on her heels to bundle up her hair, and Lapis stared.

“Doesn’t she have the most wonderful body?” Pearl twittered.  “So strong and so soft, just look at those  _ arms,  _ look at the way her  _ chest _ moves.”

“I’m  _ looking _ at her chest.  Her top is  _ soaked,  _ did you do that?”

“Involuntarily?” Pearl said, as if it were just a suggestion rather than a fact.  “You know how I get.”

“Number three was a dambuster,” Jasper said cheerfully, pulling the elastic tight.  “And that hardly ever happens, and I’m happy to share credit.”  She bent low over Lapis again, settling her weight on one arm, and gave her a warm, heavy, soft kiss.  “We might be good together.”

“You taste like Pearl.”

“Soon I’ll taste like you.”

“I’m not sure if you saying that is incredibly sexy or mildly gross.”

“Incredibly sexy, I promise.  Like you wearing my shirt.”

“I’m hardly wearing it any more.”  The front of it was rumpled up over her breasts; beneath her it was bunched up in the small of her back..

“I think I’m gonna unbutton you.”  She plucked at the top button with her free hand, undid it with a little difficulty, and nuzzled in to kiss Lapis’ neck, her mouth open and soft and wet, her tongue sliding against her collarbone.  “Nah, unbuttoning’s too much like work.”  She hooked her first two fingers into the neck of the shirt and simply ripped downward, sending buttons flying.  “Better.”

“I suppose you think I’m going to sew those back on,” Pearl said, curling up on her side and resting her head on her arm.  “Well, realistically I probably am.”

“How - how cosy and domestic of you,” Lapis managed to say.  She was caught between feeling honestly a little bit shocked that Jasper had just torn the clothes off her and wishing she’d had more layers on to be torn off.  But then that could have delayed the wet kisses all over her neck and shoulders and breasts, and the stroke of Jasper’s tongue and the huff of her breath against her skin.  “I - I can’t do praise like Pearl but that’s… ah… Jasper…”

“You don’t call me my name much.  I like hearing you say it.”

“You don’t call me  _ my _ name.  We’re not in the habit.  Oh… oh please do, please…”  It seemed very strange and maybe a bit wrong to be so thrilled that Jasper could draw not only her nipple but her whole breast into her mouth, massaging it with her tongue, plump, warm lips sealed to her skin.  She moved to the other, with a soft little grunt and sigh, and Lapis found her voice again.  “Oh, Jasper-Jasper-Jasper-Jasper.  There.  Big, strong, hot, sweet Jasper.  Very best Jasper, my favourite Jasper ever.”  She felt a fizz of smothered laughter in Jasper’s mouth, almost as weird and tingly as the raspberry on her neck.   _ Oh  _ no  _ I want her to blow raspberries on me.  I can’t possibly.  Big wet juicy tingly buzzy raspberries that’s the worst idea I’ve ever had in my  _ life.   _ I cannot cannot cannot  _ ever _ ask her to do that to me.   _ Damn  _ I hope she comes up with it on her own. _

Jasper moved to kiss her neck again, murmuring low and deep.  “Lapis Lazuli.  Lapis… Lazuli.  You actually have a really sexy name, don’t you?  I like how it feels in my mouth.  Like how  _ you _ feel in my mouth.”

“Is that your cue?”

“Might be.”  She shuffled back on her knees, tracing a burning line of kisses down the middle of Lapis’ tummy, gazing up at her all the way.  

_ “Oh _ my stars.  Do you know what your eyes are like?  You  _ do,  _ don’t you.”  In anticipation she spread her legs and drew up her knees, and shivered as she felt Jasper’s lips press softly on her mound and her fingertips part her folds.  Lapis reached out blindly and found Pearl’s hand, holding on tight as waves of sweetness rolled into her.  She tilted her hips, rocking against the stroke of Jasper’s tongue, feeling as if she was melting.  She hadn’t been quite aware of how tense her back had been, with excitement, with nerves, and now it felt like sinking into hot water at the end of a long day.  

Jasper was making greedy, avid little sounds in her throat, her eyes fluttering closed.  She had one hand on Lapis’ hip, stroking around and over the top of her thigh; Lapis wasn’t sure where the other hand was until she realised Jasper’s arm was tucked under her body and her hand between her legs.   _ She’s touching herself, that’s why she looks like she’s enjoying this so much, unless she enjoys it so much that’s why she wants to touch herself.  She looks so beautiful - and this feels so beautiful - oh there yes.   _ She gasped at a surge of pleasure, not quite a climax but getting closer, and lifted her bottom, rolling her hips more urgently.

“I hope you don’t mind her masturbating,” Pearl said fondly.  “Very little self-control when she’s this excited.”

“No - oh - Jasper, just you keep touching yourself however you like, you’re doing  _ such _ a good job.”

_ “Such _ a sweet girl,” Pearl murmured, reaching down to stroke Jasper’s cheek.  “I love her face when she’s like this, so earnest and passionate and eager to please.  You’re doing  _ so _ well, Jasper, can you see how you’re making Lapis feel?”

Jasper made a small whimpery sound, the colour in her face deepening, her hips twitching as she rubbed herself faster.  Her tongue pulsed against Lapis’ clitoris, making her tremble and pump back, little breathless cries of delight bursting out of her.  “That’s it,” she panted, “that’s perfect,” and then could only gasp as her orgasm rolled through her.  It left her limp and warm and dreamy, sighing softly with both Jasper and Pearl stroking and soothing her, large hands and small, hot and cool.

“Could both of you hug me together?”

_ “Yes,” _ said Pearl, throwing her arms around her, and then Jasper gathered both of them into hers, holding them tight for a long, sweet, slightly smothery moment before she relaxed.

“I’m on a  _ roll,” _ Jasper said; Lapis couldn’t see her face, with Jasper’s chin tucked on top of her head, but she could hear the grin in her voice and it made her laugh.  

“So you are,” Pearl said.  “I was  _ so _ proud of you, just seeing how much you’ve learned, how skilful and confident and seductive you are.”  That managed to make it sound as if Jasper had been inexperienced and shy before Pearl took her in hand, which was also pretty funny to Lapis, though not as funny as the fact that the flattery was making Jasper giggle as if she  _ was _ shy.  Giggling, which was a ridiculous sound to come out of someone Jasper’s size anyway, made her tummy jiggle endearingly.

“You okay, pixie?” Jasper asked her, nuzzling at the top of her head.  “You went quiet.”

“I’m fine.  I’m  _ wonderful. _  I feel like I’ve been polished inside and out and I shine.”

“You do twinkle a little in places.  Does it sound wrong if I say I thought your pussy looked really  _ fancy?   _ Little gold speckles lining the lips, you don’t see that every day.”

_ “Fancy? _  You can call it fancy, I think you’ve earned a privilege.”

“She’s earned that and more,” Pearl said.  She hitched herself up and over the top of Lapis to kiss Jasper.  “Would you like us to make love to  _ you _ now?”

“Yes  _ please.” _

“I’m starting to think about how we can  _ co-ordinate _ these things better but for now you don’t mind if we’re a little disorganised, do you?  No, I know you don’t.  Even if Lapis and I get in each other’s way a bit you’ll be on cloud nine.”  They kissed again, over Lapis’ head, and she rolled onto her tummy to watch them with her chin in her hands.  She was getting very fond of the way Jasper’s heavy eyebrows crumpled together and up in the middle, almost reverent, and she already loved Pearl’s soft little humming sounds and fluttering hands.  She was whispering against Jasper’s lips now.  “Do you think it’s time for me to show you off to Lapis?”

For some reason that was making Jasper whimper and bite her lip.  “Yes,” she breathed.  “Oh yes.”

“Show her what a pretty pet I have?”

_ “Fuck _ yes.”  It was a fervent whisper.

“Why don’t you go and find something you’d like me to tie your hands with?  Bring it to me - oh, and the scissors too.”

Jasper gave an urgent little grunt and scrambled off the bed, almost tripping herself as she rushed over to her dressing table.

“This won’t be the whole extravaganza, of course,” Pearl told Lapis companionably, “because those are planned and fantasised about days or weeks in advance, but it’s something she’s been looking forward to so much I think we can have a simplified version now.  And I’m so hoping you’ll love it too.  You should, she’s just gorgeous when she gets into this state of - well, you’ll see.”  She sat up and held out her hands as Jasper came back, eagerly handing over the scissors and a spool of chocolate-brown ribbon that Lapis was pretty sure she’d seen a length of in her hair on one memorable occasion.  “Thank you, my darling, and what a good choice.  Lie down now.  Do you need another pillow for your head?  That’s better, isn’t it? I know you like to be able to sit up a bit and watch.  Hands, please.”  Jasper held out her hands, wrists together, and with neat, practised movements Pearl unwound a length of ribbon and bound them snugly together.  “There’ll be no problem with touching yourself now, will there?  You know you’ll get lots and lots of pleasure but you need to be a good girl and wait for us to give it to you.”  Everything she said was punctuated with a little affirmative “mmm” from Jasper.  She cut the end of the ribbon and finished off the binding with a pretty little bow.  Pearl held Jasper’s big hands in both hers and kissed them gently.  “How’s that?  Not too loose, not too tight?”

“Just right,” Jasper said with a brief flicker of a smile.  It struck Lapis that she could probably break the ribbon as easily as a cobweb if she wanted to; it was more symbolic than practical. The part that was getting to her, more than the binding, was the way Jasper’s eyes followed Pearl so adoringly - except when they darted over to look at  _ her,  _ and she wasn’t sure what she was thinking then except that it provoked more lip-biting.

“Now,” Pearl said, turning and beaming at Lapis over her shoulder, “why don’t you come and sit just on Jasper’s other side, nice and close, and I can show you how to play with her?”

“Right.”  Pearl and Jasper both had roles to play, and Pearl clearly enjoyed playing up to hers; Lapis wasn’t sure what her role would be yet so it seemed best to follow along.   She knelt beside Jasper, nestled in by the dip of her waist, and finally shrugged out of the much-abused red flannel shirt so that she and Pearl matched in their nakedness.  Jasper was still dressed - probably waiting for permission to undress was part of this whole thing - although she’d stopped bothering with the silly accessories like the armbands and belt.  She was down to her snug-fitting cropped top and curve-hugging pants.

“Now,” said Pearl with a pleased little nod.  “Hands above your head.  Good girl.”  She still had the scissors and to Lapis’ surprise she opened them, slid them under the hem of the top she’d already stained and slit it right up the middle, the scissor blades stopping and snipping together just under Jasper’s chin.  The two flaps of fabric slid apart to uncover Jasper’s breasts, rising and falling with her quick light breathing.  “Aren’t they lovely?” Pearl asked, as if she’d designed them herself and was quite proud of the effect.  She traced one fingertip down between them before twirling off to one side following the curve of a stripe; it reminded Lapis of a long vermilion tongue licking at the underside of Jasper’s breast.  Jasper shivered and wet her lips with the tip of her own tongue.

“Not cold, sweetheart?” Pearl asked.

“Oh no.”  Another flicker of a crooked smile.  “Burning up.”  She watched, nibbling at her lower lip, while Pearl’s cool pale fingertips traced their way around her breast, gradually spiralling in to brush the nipple, puffy and tender.  

_ “Dear _ Jasper,” Pearl said softly.  She leaned in and very delicately took Jasper’s nipple between her lips.  Jasper began to breathe more deeply; she kept glancing over to Lapis almost furtively, her legs shifting restlessly so that her thighs rubbed together.

“Lapis?” she asked after a moment.

“Yes?”

“Please, will you touch me too?”

“I might.”  She lifted up on her knees and slipped her arm behind Jasper’s neck, lying down along her side.  “Doesn’t that depend on what Pearl says?”  She’d thought this would be a fun sultry sort of way to further fluster Jasper, but hadn’t really considered how she’d feel about the press of her skin against Jasper’s all the way down the side of her body, feeling her breathe and shift and gently sweat.  They hadn’t been skin to skin, body to body like this before, and now she wanted to lie on her tummy on Jasper’s, with her arms and legs wrapped around her, clinging like a limpet.

“Pearl says, Jasper’s neck needs attention.”  Lapis could hear the indulgent smile in Pearl’s voice.  “And I think she would like that attention in stereo, so to speak.”  She rose up to press a kiss against the side of Jasper’s neck.  “Be gentle to begin with… keep your mouth soft and use your tongue.”

“Like this?”

“Did you hear that little sound she made?  That means  _ yes,  _ like that.”

“Ohh…”  Jasper licked her lips again, tipping back her head.

“And in a little while,” Pearl murmured, “we’ll begin to use our teeth.  Jasper likes it when you scrape them lightly over her skin.  But don’t  _ bite.   _ We’re not trying to hurt her.”

_ You’re enjoying narrating it as much as Jasper enjoys actually feeling it.  _ She tried to do just as Pearl said, very conscious of the soft wet sounds their mouths made on Jasper’s skin.  Licking the column of her throat, she could feel her swallowing hard.  Pearl’s hands were wandering, skimming curly patterns over Jasper’s chest and shoulders, and Lapis slid her own to cup one plump, peaked breast.  Differences of scale again; the bud of the nipple was the size of one of her own fingertips, and she got a little distracted playing with it before deciding that of course it was all right to just suck it, Pearl had already  _ done _ that and she was at grave risk of overthinking things.  It made Jasper tremble and, unexpectedly, duck to kiss the top of Lapis’ head.

Pearl began to gently direct her around, to lick here, rub there, to do something in perfect tandem with her or in counterpoint as a contrast.  She was grateful for the guidance; there was something a bit daunting about how overwhelmingly lush Jasper’s body was, and it was making her feel rather small.   _ No, small’s good for me and Pearl, small is wicked and sexy and you’re not supposed to want the small ones but of course you do, look how cute we are.   _ Sometimes Pearl would just send her up top to kiss Jasper’s mouth, and she would get lost in increasingly deep, sloppy kisses full of moans and sighs, and when she drew back Jasper would be gazing at her with heavy-lidded dreamy golden eyes.

“I’m pretty sure you’re meant to close your eyes when people are kissing you.”

“What for?  I want to see you the whole time.  Please?”  Jasper craned her neck a bit, seeking another kiss, and another, until Pearl called Lapis back down to hip level.

“You look like you’re having a  _ wonderful _ time; are you?”  Pearl’s eyes were gleaming and her cheeks and lips were flushed; even her sweet little nipples were standing out proudly, so excited and puffed up.

“I  _ am.   _ Am I doing okay?”

“You’re doing beautifully.  How I love you!”  Pearl kissed her eagerly, and the firm press of her lips and the confident plunge of her tongue made Lapis’ mouth feel more hot and tingly than ever.  She had been a little bit afraid, without quite seeing it clearly until now, that one or the other of them was going to suffer by comparison; that she wouldn’t enjoy Pearl as much after she’d had Jasper or that Jasper couldn’t live up to the standard Pearl had got her used to.  The fact that it wasn’t like that at all was a huge relief.  They were just  _ both _ gorgeous and wonderful and delicious in their own strikingly different ways and each acted as a foil to the other.  More importantly,  _ she _ wasn’t going to ruin everything by feeling the wrong way.

“Oh Pearl…”  As Pearl drew back she swayed forward, following her, getting one more little dab of a kiss before rocking back.

“Shall we take her pants off?” Pearl asked with a coy sidelong glance at Jasper.  “She’s clearly more than ready, and it doesn’t seem entirely kind to make her wait for  _ too  _ long.  Of course she  _ should _ be made to wait long enough to be properly appreciative… but I think we’ve reached that point.”

“How do you even  _ take _ the pants off someone her size?  Do we each take a side and pull?”

“Sort of,” said Pearl.  She picked up the scissors and snipped their blades together in the air, theatrically, before cutting a deep notch into the waistband of Jasper’s pants.  “Take a side and pull.  One, two…”

Lapis got a good grip on her side of the notch and yanked hard on three.  The fabric ripped with startling ease, a long jagged tear right down between Jasper’s legs.  Jasper whimpered sharply, lifting her hips.  A thick tuft of fluffy hair cropped up in the gap and a strong musky smell wafted out.  Pearl bent and pressed a warm kiss just above the hair, changed her grip and tore the rip wider in a brisk, businesslike sort of way.

“Spread your legs, Jasper.”

She obeyed with her eyes on Pearl, her lower lip trapped under her teeth.

“Jasper has been  _ longing _ to show herself to you,” Pearl said, smiling.  “ _ Such _ a little show-off, but with  _ so _ much justification.  Behold the prettiest pussy in all the world.  Oh, don’t be shy now!”  Jasper had lowered her arms to hide her face behind her bound hands.  “Sweetheart,” Pearl went on, her voice soft and coaxing, “are you all right?  If this isn’t quite right, please tell me.  I know this is what we talked about but if you don’t like it as much as you thought I want to know so I can make it better.”  She reached up to stroke Jasper’s arm.

“No, it’s great!  I just - I just need a minute.  I’m  _ really _ embarrassed.”

“Aw, why?” Lapis asked.  She clambered over Jasper’s thigh and knelt comfortably between her legs.  “Could it be because you’re so dripping wet you’ve made a puddle on the bed?  Well, a big soggy wet patch.”  She reached out and touched the torn fabric stretched over Jasper’s thigh, hot and damp.  “You’ve made such a mess.”  The prettiest pussy in all the world was mostly concealed by thick hair curling into damp ringlets lower down.

“Holy shit,” Jasper said faintly but fervently.

“It’s all right, darling,” Pearl said, climbing over to join Lapis, bumping her hip with her own to nudge her over.  “This is the  _ good _ kind of mess that happens because you’re passionate.  May I show you off to Lapis now?”

“Please.”  She was still hiding her face, but she seemed a little more relaxed.

“That’s my girl.”  She combed her fingers into the thick hair and parted it, exposing the glistening wet edges of thick soft labia.  “As above, so below, right?  Pouty glossy lips.  And just look at her clitoris.  I was shocked the first time I saw it, and then all I wanted to do was get it in my mouth.”

“I’d heard some rumours about Quartzes but that is truly impressive.”  It was so  _ blatant,  _ actually standing out from Jasper’s body with a little arch, its hood deep orange and its protruding tip nearly crimson.

“It’s only this big when she’s excited.  At rest it nestles in softly, but it only needs a little bit of encouragement to rear up rampant.  Would you like to touch it?”

“I do want to, but would you spread her pussy open for me first?”

“Of course.  Oops - well, it won’t make any difference now.”  As she parted and pressed back Jasper’s lips a thick trickle of slick liquid escaped, sliding down between her buttocks.  

“I hope you like it,” Jasper said in a sudden rush.

“Of course I like it.”  It gave her a weird feeling, really; once again, something between intensely sexy and possibly slightly gross (so  _ big,  _ so  _ drippy) _ , but still in a way that she wanted to touch.

Jasper pressed her face into her hands, but kept her mouth clear enough for them to hear a rapid breathy whisper, “Please play with my pussy, please touch it, please do whatever you want with it.”

“We will,” Pearl assured her, “just like this.  Lapis, help me.”  Jasper breathed out with a great huff as their tongues touched her, and Lapis could feel her still quivering with tension.  Deep, sweet moans rumbled out of her as Pearl nudged and beckoned Lapis into place, gently touching her chin.  Their tongues flickered and lapped at the thick stem of her clitoris, Lapis watching Pearl closely for her lead, and just for the sight of her.  “Try here,” Pearl breathed, softly licking the tip, drawing a breathless little cry from Jasper before making way for Lapis.

_ Oh, just listen to her, feel her,  _ smell _ her, and Pearl, oh Pearl licking my neck and - ooh, all right, rubbing  _ my _ pussy, aren’t you the clever multitasker, can I - oh, so soft and hot and wet, and Jasper…   _ She tried suckling at the tip and felt Jasper’s hips pump up to her.   _ I think I’ll give you more of that. _

“Oh  _ fuck _ yes,” Jasper growled.

“What language,” Pearl murmured, slipping her fingers between Jasper’s lips and running her tongue along their borders.

“Both of you fuck me,” Jasper moaned.  Her hips were rocking steadily now and there was a soft, distinct squelching sound where Pearl’s fingers sank into her.

_ I think it’s official, rude noises always make me want to giggle.  That’s a  _ very _ rude noise. _

“Press your tongue in and swivel it,” Pearl suggested.  “The more excited she gets, the more pressure and friction she wants, so don’t be timid.”

“Don’t be timid, don’t, fuck me as hard as you can.”  Jasper’s head was tipped back now, her face radiant with pleasure, her fingers twitching and twining together.  

“Mmmh?”  Lapis rocked her tongue hard against the thick bud filling her mouth and got a purring groan in response.

“She’s nice to be nice to, isn’t she?”  Pearl’s voice was a soft, low chuckle.  “I adore her little sounds.  Keep going just like that, I’m going to work deeper inside her with my fingers.”

Jasper gasped, her eyes briefly rolling up white, and her hips lost their rhythm for a moment before surging again, faster, as she panted joyfully.  She was beginning to shake when Pearl put her hand on Lapis’ shoulder and said, “Stop.”

“Whuh?  Why?”  She’d been in a bit of a happy daze, engrossed in the sounds she could get out of Jasper.

“Noooooooo,” Jasper wailed.

“Because she’ll enjoy it so much more if she has to wait for it.”

“Oh, of course.”  Lapis leaned back against Jasper’s thigh and wiped her mouth, catching her breath.

“No-ho-ho-hooooo.   _ Please,  _ I was nearly coming.”

“I know, darling, sometimes I know you’re about to come before you do.  Trust your Pearl.”

“But I just want…”

“Jasper,” Pearl said, sitting up.  “What do naughty, greedy girls get?”

“Their pussies spanked,” Jasper said, a tiny bit sulkily, her lower lip trembling.

“And what about good, patient girls?”

“Orgasms,” she said wistfully.

“That’s right,” Pearl said, crawling up under Jasper’s joined hands to rest her folded arms on her chest.  “Can you be a very good girl for me?”  She touched the tip of Jasper’s nose with her forefinger.

“I’ll try.”

“I love you.”  Pearl followed the finger-tap with a kiss.

“Love you,” Jasper echoed.

“Just imagine how good you’re going to feel when we let you come.  Think about that while I have a quick word to Lapis.”  She wriggled back down and snuggled close to Lapis, whispering against her cheek.  “As long as we’re both stimulating her pussy it’s hard to hold her back.”

“I  _ so _ enjoy hearing you say things like ‘stimulating her pussy.’”

“You looked adorable sucking her, too.  Such intensity!  I’ve loved seeing you develop such a strong sexual response with your mouth.  Now what I want you to do, my darling, is to go up top and sit on her face.  That will divide her attention very nicely and help me to just edge her along for a nice long time, until she’s truly desperate.  And she’ll love it.”

_ Ugh, now I have to admit I don’t know how to do that.  At least Jasper can’t hear us, I think.  Whisper quiet.   _ “When you say sit on her face, I mean - don’t laugh - do you mean putting my  _ bottom _ down on her face, or…”

“I’m sorry, darling, I should have given you a demonstration.”

“If you just describe…”

“You straddle her head and press your pussy down on her mouth.  There are a few other ways but that’s what she likes best.  You can face down towards me if you like, or up - the lovely part of that is you can watch her face between your legs.  You’re small and light and she’s absurdly sturdy so it’s safe to put your full weight on her if you want to.  The idea is to dominate her and to smother her a little, and she’ll try her hardest to please you with her lips and tongue.”

_ “Oh.” _

“I think you just saw the appeal.”

“It makes a lot more sense than using her face as a chair.”

“Honestly, I use her as furniture all the time.  Do you want me to come up and help you to get started?”

“Yes please.”

“Come on.  You go first.”

Jasper looked calmer, if not by much, and she lifted her head as they crawled up over her body.  “What did you talk about?”

“You, silly,” said Pearl, “and all the lovely things we’re going to do with you.  Hold still now, and keep your hands down on your tummy.  Lapis, you can put one knee on either side of her head, you see?”  She was close behind Lapis, her chest pressed to her back and her hands under her elbows, and Lapis could hear a little pained grunt from Jasper as Pearl planted one knee on her shoulder.  She was looking up at both of them in awe, though, and her tongue flickered over her lips.

“Are you going to -”

“Shh,” Pearl said softly, “wait and see.  Are you comfy, Lapis?”

“So far.”  She was sort of hovering at the moment, up on her knees and wondering how one gracefully sat down on another person’s face.

“Isn’t she beautiful, Jasper?  Aren’t you lucky?”  Pearl slid her hands down Lapis’ sides to her hips, holding her steady.

“Yes.   _ Yes.” _

“Look.”  Her right hand glided down over Lapis’ tummy and slipped between her thighs, her first two fingers spreading apart her labia.  She felt an eager gust of Jasper’s breath on her wet skin and shivered.  “You see how slick and soft and hot she - Lapis!”  She broke off with a reproving, affectionate little laugh.  A long, glistening dribble of wet had escaped and draped itself over Jasper’s nose and lips, and she licked them automatically, gazing up at Lapis with her trembling lips half-open.

“Wasn’t on purpose,” Lapis said faintly.

“Well, it’s  _ you,  _ so it could be.  It suits her though, doesn’t it?  Do you want some more, Jasper?”

“Please,” Jasper said, her voice thick and throaty.

“Down a little bit,” Pearl murmured against Lapis’ neck, pressing on her hip, “but just out of reach.”

“Right.”  She bent forward and planted her hands on the pillow above Jasper’s head, steadying herself, and lowered her hips a bit.  Jasper lifted her head urgently, straining with her tongue.  Pearl shifted her hand, reaching between her legs from behind and slipping in two long deft fingers, stroking and beckoning.  “Oh…”  Lapis’ thighs trembled and wet heat dripped out of her again, drizzling into Jasper’s mouth.

“Do you like that?” Pearl crooned.  Jasper nodded, breathing hard, her pupils huge and dark.

_ I need to do something, Jasper deserves more than me dripping on her.  Oh, but it’s so easy to just get caught up in Pearl being in charge.   _ Lapis closed her eyes and drew a deep breath in.  Pearl’s fingers were still moving inside her and she squeezed down on them for just a moment.  

“Let her taste you,” Pearl said, withdrawing her fingers and nudging Lapis’ hips down.  She felt Jasper’s tongue swipe against her pussy and caught her breath again.  She opened her eyes and looked down to meet Jasper’s, face framed by her thighs.

“Well, I hope I taste  _ good.” _

“Hnnh,” Jasper said, and tried her best to lick her again.

“Yes?  Do you want a little bit more?”  She stroked Jasper’s hair back from her forehead and pressed down, shivering with delight at the thick softness of her lips.

_ “Hrrmmmmh.”   _ Jasper moved her head, angling into the cleft of her pussy, opened her mouth and sucked.  

_ “Ooh,  _ that’s good.  You can keep going.  Pearl, I - I’ve got her, you can…  _ ooh.”   _

“Just enjoy her,” Pearl said, kissing the nape of Lapis’ neck, and shuffled back.  After a moment, Jasper grunted and her eyelids flickered; Lapis rocked with her as she arched her back and neck.

“Is that nice?  Is Pearl doing something nice?  Well, don’t let it distract you, remember  _ me.” _  She ground down a little, feeling the pressure of Jasper’s teeth behind her lips before she eased up.  “And don’t you look pretty?  Are you going to be just as good for me as you are for Pearl?”  Jasper nodded earnestly, her lips busy.  “I know she’s  _ very _ proud of you.  I can - can see why - I -”  She stopped for a moment, panting; the way Jasper was sucking was sending a spike of pleasure up inside her that pushed all the thoughts out.  Her hips twitched forward and she gave a sharp little mew, pushing her fingers deeper into Jasper’s hair.  “J-Jasper?  Honey?”   _ Where did I get honey from, I don’t call people honey.   _ “I need you to, to push your tongue up inside me, push it as deep into my pussy as you can.  Exactly like that.  In and out, that’s  _ so _ nice.  Pearl will be s-so proud of you and she’ll make you come so ha -  _ oh.”   _ Jasper was reaching shockingly deep for someone using her tongue, and either by luck or by instinct she was stroking that inner front wall that always needed attention.  When Lapis looked down at her, her cheeks were scarlet, her forehead shining wet with sweat, her beautiful wild eyes hazy and unfocused.  

“Oh, you’re so messy, look at you.   _ Yes.   _ I’m - Jasper, will you be okay if I - I hump a bit?”  She thought Jasper was nodding, but she was moving around a lot, particularly when Pearl did a particularly good bit of whatever she was doing back there.  “Wait, wait.”  With deep reluctance, she braced her arm on the pillow and lifted her hips, Jasper lifting her head with her, trying frantically to keep contact.  When even the tip of her tongue couldn’t reach she fell back with a whine.

“Will you be okay if I’m humping and grinding on you while you do that?  I can’t - I don’t want to hurt you or spoil it for you.  Tell me.”

_“Yes,_ ” Jasper moaned.  “Yes, _do_ it, fuck my mouth.”

_ “Right.” _  She pressed down hard, felt Jasper sucking greedily at her lips, plunging in her tongue, and began to ride.  “So good,  _ so _ good,  _ oh _ Jasper,  _ oh!”   _ She pushed her hands deep into the soft tangle of Jasper’s hair, pumping her hips fiercely.  The smooth underside of Jasper’s nose was hard against her clitoris and she ground against it, looking down into her eyes, seeing the sweetest, most abject submission.   _ That’s for Pearl, that’s really for Pearl but oh, I’ll take it.   _ She certainly hoped Pearl’s wanting to string Jasper along didn’t extend to her having to pace herself when this was getting better every second.  She could feel Jasper going through cycles of  tensing and shuddering, giving ascending grunts of pleasure followed by forlorn little whines of frustration.   _ “Good  _ girl,  _ so _ good,  _ good _ girl…”  She chanted breathless, mindless praise as she rode and the joy she felt grew so overwhelming that the final climax turned her to jelly.  She lay draped over Jasper’s head, her face buried in her hair - when had it all worked loose from being tied up?  Well, maybe that was her own fault - breathing deeply through the aftershocks.  

_ I must be a dead weight.  Lucky for her she can’t really smother.   _ Jasper was still moving, panting, rocking her huddled body, and still licking her, though she had fanned out to her thighs and tummy, swivelling her head to reach them.  She couldn’t tell what part of the all-pervading wetness she felt was from Jasper’s mouth, what had come from her own thoroughly overstimulated pussy and what was just both of them sweating a river.  When she had caught her breath enough to lift her head, Jasper’s hair came up with it, stuck to her cheek, and she had to wipe it away with both hands.  

She sat up and leaned back a bit, looking down at Jasper’s scarlet face, eyes closed and eyebrows knit fervently together.  Although her legs were still weak and trembly, she lifted herself up and crawled back down Jasper’s body, lying down on her chest, putting her hands to her cheeks and kissing her wet mouth, her swollen lips.   _ She  _ does _ taste like me now.  This is so gross.   _ Jasper was softly sucking her tongue, purring low in her throat, her body growing tense again before sagging back and gasping for air.  

“Pearl,  _ please,” _ she hissed.

“No-no-no,” Pearl sang back, her voice very slightly muffled, cheerfully teasing.

_ “Ple-he-hease… _  I - I’ve been good, I’ve been so good, I helped Lapis come…  came right in my mouth…”

“I did,” Lapis said.  “I did, she really does deserve it.”  She looked back over her shoulder; Pearl was kneeling between Jasper’s thighs, smiling back at her, her fingers working steadily inside Jasper’s pussy.

“Come down and help me again,” she suggested.

Lapis turned back to Jasper and kissed her again, stroking her hair back from her face.  “Everything’s going to be okay,” she said.  “You’re such a good, patient girl, and we both know what good, patient girls get.  Wait a little bit longer.”

“Okay,” Jasper said, her voice small and meek, though the next moment she gasped and whispered, “Fuck!”

“Little bit of a naughty girl too,” Lapis said.  She dotted a kiss on Jasper’s nose before clambering backward and down beside Pearl, who met her with more kisses and a one-armed hug, her other hand being occupied and her arm wet almost to the elbow.

“I’m going to release her in just a minute,” she whispered.  “You’ve certainly got the hang of praising her.  I praise  _ you. _  Wonderful Lapis.”

“Oh, well, a good teacher…”  She didn’t share Jasper’s passion for praise but that did make her feel awfully nice.  “What do you want to do?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice for the two of us to bring her off together?”  Pearl drew her hand from between Jasper’s labia and interlaced her fingers with Lapis’, their forearms side by side.  “Like this?”

“Pearl, you are terrible.”

“Well, yes.  Do you want to try?”

“Obviously.”

“And Jasper?  Would you like us to try like this?”

“Yes, please.   _ Please.” _  She spread her legs wider, hitching up her knees.  Her hands were still bound but they were also clasped together beseechingly.

“I don’t expect it to, but if this hurts at  _ all _ tell me at once.  You promise?”

“Promise.  Please?”  Jasper was gnawing at her lower lip.

“Yes, my darling.  Lapis, shall we?”

Although she was willing to try, Lapis still didn’t entirely believe that two people’s hands could penetrate Jasper until she saw and felt them sliding in.  She gasped and gave a nervous little giggle as they sank in past the wrist, and Jasper dragged in a deep, hoarse breath.

“Oh my goodness,” said Pearl, “like this she feels  _ tight.   _ Is it good, Jasper?”

“Goodgoodgood…”  Lapis could feel her squeezing down on them, shockingly strong, and for a moment she was just slightly worried about their arms - she knew how tough and flexible  _ she _ was but Pearl looked so fragile.

“We’re going to start moving, then, and we’re not going to stop until you come.  Are you ready?”

_ “Yes,” _ Jasper almost snapped.  

“Oh, are you sure?  You sound a little cross, so perhaps - “  It occured to Lapis that sometimes Pearl asked these things as much to prolong things and tease Jasper as to take care of her.

“No no no no please, please Pearl, please Lapis, please…”  She sounded almost tearful.

“Come on, Lapis,” Pearl said, flashing her a quick smile.  “She’s ready.”  She set the stroke, smooth and deep into the lush, wet heat of Jasper’s body, and Lapis moved with her, a fraction behind until she felt the rhythm and then it was as simple as dancing with her.  It wasn’t a complicated step, after all, and Jasper was so plainly, ecstatically happy with it.  Her face was shining and her voice rose in a blissful moan.  A thick, warm stream flowed around their arms and her puffy lips stretched and flexed with their movement.  Her massive hips began to rock steadily and again Lapis felt the press of inner muscles bearing down.

“She’s  _ strong, _ isn’t she?” Pearl asked.  Her eyes were bright and her face alight with an avid smile.  

“Is she going to break our arms when she comes?”

“No,” Pearl said, laughing.  “It’ll be messy, especially when she’s had to wait this long for it, but when she actually reaches orgasm it’s more twitching and pulsing than squeezing.  Oh,  _ look _ at her!”  Jasper was arching back, her heels digging down into the mattress and her hips lifting, shaking, their thrusts becoming irregular, her moans becoming sharp gasps.  “You’re close, aren’t you, my darling?”

“Ff - ye - yes…”

“And this time, this time, I won’t pull you back, this time you’re free to come just as hard and sweet and long as your heart desires.  Won’t you show Lapis how gorgeous you are when you come?”

Jasper answered her with whimpers and grunts, trembling harder, until she gave a hoarse cry and shivered convulsively, all over, for several long seconds until she collapsed.  Not really a squirt but a soft  _ splash _ of hot liquid rushed out around Lapis and Pearl’s joined arms, and just as Pearl had said, Lapis could feel a kind of rapid light twitching in the slick flesh all around them.  Jasper lay limp with her knees splayed out and her chest heaving, uttering weak little murmurs.

“There,” said Pearl, with profound satisfaction.  She drew out their hands, drawing a final little shudder and squish from Jasper.  “She still needs us.  Come on.”  She crawled up to the level of Jasper’s twitching hands and pulled the bow loose, unravelling the ribbon and massaging Jasper’s wrists.  “You were so brave, my darling, so obedient and good.  Lapis was absolutely right when she said I’d be proud of you.  I love you with all my heart.”  She nestled in between Jasper’s body and her arm, resting her head on her shoulder, and draped her arm across her midriff.  “Lapis, come and cuddle her on the other side.”

“Is she okay?” Lapis asked, wriggling into the warm space, feeling Jasper’s sweat melt to her skin wherever they touched.  “She looks a little bit… out of it.”  Jasper’s eyes were half closed, unseeing, and her lips moved vaguely, not quite forming any sound; her arms lay heavy on the bed.

“She is.  I mean, she’s okay,  _ and _ she’s a little bit out of it.  After a prolonged orgasm like that, and after a  _ lot _ of teasing and praising and surrender, she’s so relaxed it’s almost like a little trance.  It’s got deeper over time - well, we’ve been going further over time, testing at the edges of what she can cope with.  I just stay close to her, and pet her, and tell her how much I love her until she starts coming to her senses.  And I enjoy how beautiful she looks, all rumpled up and dishevelled, and I feel a certain extremely egotistical pride in my ability to bring her to this.”  She pressed a little dot of a kiss on Jasper’s cheekbone.  “Yours too, of course.  We should be a bit more careful in future.  Plan things.  So much of this was improvised and it’s really a bit risky, and I  _ shouldn’t _ take risks when I’m responsible for her.”

“Oh no,” Lapis said, dismayed.

“What’s the matter?”

“I gave her a fat lip.  Look, it’s swelling up here, out of line with the other side.”  She touched the right side of the bow of Jasper’s upper lip.  

“Oh dear,” Pearl said, inspecting it.  “Well, that  _ is _ the sort of thing that happens, and she really doesn’t mind occasional bumps and bruises - but that’s why we need to discuss and plan.  We went rather a lot further than I was originally thinking when I put the ribbon on her.  After this she won’t need another blowout for a few weeks.”

“Well, I need to do something about it.  I’ll ice it a little, that will help.”  She drew water from the film of sweat on Jasper’s skin, rolling it into a soft blob and chilling it, then gently applying it to the swollen area where it sat like a large silvery bead.

“You’re so  _ very _ clever,” Pearl said.  “I was thinking I would need to get dressed and go up to the kitchen to get ice from the freezer.  Well, eventually I  _ will _ get up because I  _ didn’t _ plan for this and so I don’t have anything I need for her sponge bath here, but that can wait until she’s a bit more alert.”  She rested her head on Jasper’s shoulder again, smiling up at Lapis as she carefully rolled the chilly water over the swollen area.  “I like seeing you take care of her, too.”

“When you  _ have _ planned, do you like put a tarp down to catch all the overflow?  The bed is soaked.”

“I  _ do _ do a lot of Jasper-related laundry.  There are waterproof covers on the mattresses, or I’m afraid they would never dry out.  Of course, Jasper didn’t do all the soaking.  I’m fairly sure that patch there is yours.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”  Lapis kept the water circling, but lay down again.  “I had a nice time.”

Jasper’s eyelids flickered, her face scrunched up for a moment, and she reflexively licked the water away before opening her eyes properly.  “Wha’ was ‘at?” she asked.  “Oh.  My lip.”

“I was trying to make it feel better,” Lapis said guiltily.

“Oh,” Jasper said again, vaguely.  After a moment she seemed to remember what she wanted to say, and added, “Should be okay by morning.  I’m a fast healer.”

“Sorry about that.”

“I’m not.”  She drew her arms around both of them and hugged them close to her for a long moment before releasing them as she exhaled.  “Oh… I’m shattered, I can’t move.”

“You know you don’t have to.  All you have to do now is rest, and I’ll take care of you.”  Pearl half sat up and bent over Jasper to kiss her forehead.  “I need to go and get some things, but Lapis will be here with you the whole time.”

“Don’t go yet.  Just cuddle me a bit longer.”

“Oh, of course.”  Pearl snuggled back down, and Jasper’s eyes drifted closed again.  Lapis lay in the crook of her arm, wondering if there was anything else she needed to say or do.  Baby-sit Jasper while Pearl was equipping herself for a sponge bath, she supposed.  It would be nice if she were included in the bathing; she was beginning to feel a bit tacky as she dried, and she was sure she reeked of sex and sweat and general strumpetry.  Jasper lifted her hand and laid it on her shoulder, stroking, tilting her head to rub her cheek on Lapis’ hair with a kind of contented grumbling sound.  “What a happy Jasper,” Pearl murmured.  She lifted her head again.  “I think I should go and get the things now, though.  Once you’re clean and comfortable we can all curl up together again.”

“Mmmrrmm.  Okay, but you have to be really quick, or I’ll get sad and pouty.”

“I promise, my spoiled princess.”  Pearl kissed her cheek again and got up, reforming her clothes.

“Boo,” said Lapis.  “Restore nudity.”

“When I get back,” Pearl said, blowing her a kiss before she hurried away.  Jasper watched her go, then rolled towards Lapis to hug her close again.  

“You’ll squish me,” she said, wrapping her arms around Jasper’s waist and tucking her head in under her chin.

“Nah I won’t.  You’re a tough cookie.  You’re still happy to be here, right?”

“Here in your room or here wrapped up in you and your hair?  I think both, though.  Yes, both.”

“So you’ll stay all night?”

“I was going to anyway.”

“Yeah, but it’d be nice to hear you saying it.”

“Okay.  Since we’re spoiling you.  I want to stay here all night with you and Pearl.”

_ “Great.” _  Jasper kissed the top of her head.  “I’m a fan of new cuddly Lapis.  Also new face-fucking Lapis, she’s good fun.  Think we’ll see her again?”

“Not till your lip’s back to normal.  Want me to ice it again?”

“It really doesn’t hurt that much.  Not that anything much hurts right now.”

“Well, that’s the problem.  You’re too blissed out to notice you’re banged up.”

“You have a minor point.  My pussy’s going to be a little sore tomorrow.  Still worth it.  Plus you’re fussing about me, and that’s so weird and nice.”

“Well.  Don’t get used to it, I plan to leave most of that stuff up to Pearl.”  She gave a sort of head-shove to Jasper’s chest.

“Lapis?”  Large fingers trailed gently through her hair.

“What?”

“I loved having both of you inside me together.  I loved belonging to both of you.  And hearing you talking to each other  _ about _ me like that was the hottest thing ever.  Which… I should just let you know I’m probably going to be  _ really _ needy and horny and annoying for the next little while.  Tell me if I’m bugging you.”

“How long is a little while?”

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll try and keep a lid on it in public.”

“Oh?  Like how discreet and restrained you are with Pearl?”

“We behave ourselves.  Where it shows.”  Jasper slid one hand down her back to cup under her bottom and pulled her up for another kiss, soft and languid.

Lapis felt a sudden cold clutch of panic.   _ Is she going to say she loves me?  I don’t think I love her yet.  This is going to be terrible.  Oh damn me, why did I have to  _ think _ of that?  I couldn’t just be happy that someone big and sweet and hot is kissing me.  I’m  _ fond _ of her!  No one wants to be told “I’m fond of you.”  Maybe I can distract her. _

She was saved from having to think of an appopriate distraction by the return of Pearl, balancing a ewer and basin and several towels.  “I’m back, dears,” she trilled, almost dropping everything in her effort to nudge the door shut with her knee.

“Let me help you with that,” Lapis said, scrambling up.  She reached Pearl and relieved her of the ewer, at least, which was full of hot water.  It was reassuring just to have water near her, and she hugged its warmth against her belly with one arm while she closed the door with her other.

“Thank you.”  Pearl kissed her cheek.  “I’d ask if she’s been good while I was gone but she’s always good when she’s this happy, all placid and purring.  Will you help me to clean her up?”

The sponge bath was calming, too, just a gentle wiping down with warm washcloths, Jasper obediently moving, lifting an arm or a leg to let Pearl reach everywhere in need of attention.  She was beginning to look very sleepy.  Lapis took the opportunity to clean herself, and while she was at it, to draw off the excess moisture from the bedding.  She was left with a small globe of floating water - it seemed impossible that so little had spread so far, but that was liquids for you - and no real idea what to do with it until Pearl pointed out that she had finished bathing Jasper and it could just go in with the waste water in the basin.  She was busy by that time rolling Jasper in towels and nuzzling at her nose and calling her a dandelion and a marigold, so Lapis tidied the basin and ewer away over by the door.  She felt a little surplus to requirements again, as well as vexed with herself for feeling that way when she’d just been worrying about premature declarations of love that hadn’t even eventuated.  Pearl had tucked Jasper into bed; Jasper was lying on her tummy and uttering little rumbles of contentment at having her hair brushed out.

“Come and help me again,” Pearl said, beaming.  “See if you can remember how to make a braid.  I like to see her hair in one big soft plait for bed.”

“Oh, right.”  It was more difficult to wrangle the whole mane into sections and twine them over and around each other; she didn’t know how Pearl managed it alone.  The mild chilliness she’d begun to feel was dispersing with Pearl guiding her hands and dropping little approving kisses on her cheeks and her shoulders, though.  She made an adequate, if not beautiful braid and Pearl fastened it with the one surviving elastic band.  The scissors had slid to the floor at some stage, which was probably fortunate.

“Now do I get the promised cuddle part?” Jasper asked, rolling over and upheaving them both.

“You do.  One of us on each side, right?”  Pearl nestled in again between arm and body, pulling the quilt up to her shoulder.

“Each side,” Jasper agreed, and yawned hugely, drawing Lapis in against her huge, warm flank.  She was asleep within minutes, her face soft and lax and peaceful, Pearl gazing at her adoringly.

_ I still don’t know if I belong here, _ Lapis thought, finding the best angle for her head in the axis of Jasper’s shoulder,  _ but I do want to be here. _


	9. Chapter 9

After a very heavy, sweet sleep Jasper was woken by Pearl trying to get out of bed.

“Rrrgghh.”  She tightened her arm around Pearl’s… legs, it felt like.  “Don’go.  Miss you.”

“Shh.”  Pearl stroked back her hair and kissed her forehead.  “I’ll come back.”

“Where’ve you gotta go?”  She cracked one eye open, reluctantly.  The room was almost dark, with only the lamp on the bookshelf giving off a low glow.  She could feel Lapis pressed up to the other side of her body, one leg slung right over her belly, breathing with an occasional very soft little whistle that couldn’t be called a snore unless you were feeling mean.

“There was a mess in the kitchen before I went to bed,” Pearl whispered.  “Now, I  _ did _ leave it because I was looking forward to my evening with you and Lapis and there was still a chance  _ someone _ would clean it up, but I - I just need to go and make sure.”

“Okay.  Wha’ time’s it?”

“Nearly morning.  Go back to sleep, my darling, dream about romance and princesses and knights.”

“Mmm.”  She let Pearl go, sinking back into warm darkness.  After a drowsy interval, during which she wasn’t quite sure she really slept, she became gradually sure that she actually was awake.  Pearl wasn’t back yet, and somehow Lapis had got on top of her.  She was asleep, still intermittently, faintly whistling, and Jasper couldn’t figure out whether she’d got there by herself or if some unconscious rolling of her own had done it.  It didn’t  _ seem _ like a position Lapis would get into on purpose, spreadeagled on her tummy; it was cute as anything but distinctly lacking in poise. Her head rested in the dip between Jasper’s breasts - on one cheek, and it was just faintly possible that there was a suspicion of dampness between cheek and chest, but surely not anything as uncouth as  _ drool _ \- and her arms and legs draped down the sides of Jasper’s body, limp and soft.  She had pushed off the covers, too.  

It was interesting, she thought; Pearl’s skin seemed to be naturally cool.  She would get warm with activity and friction, but at rest she would go right back to feeling like the other side of the pillow on a hot night - if a pillow were a bit bony.  Lapis, though, seemed to have absorbed her own abundant body heat and retained it.  She was deeply, placidly warm.  She probably  _ was _ going to love that hot spring - and wouldn’t she and Pearl look sweet bobbing around with their cheeks all flushed from the heat?

Carefully, trying not to dislodge Lapis, she bent to the side enough to slide her arm down and reach the edge of the quilt, brought it back with her as she straightened up, then repeated the process on the other side.  Success, and Lapis was still contentedly snoozing.  Jasper pulled the quilt up to Lapis’ shoulders and folded her arms over her back.  

“Cutie,” she murmured, and kissed the top of Lapis’ head.

After a moment Lapis made a vaguely discontented sound and began pushing around, also vaguely, with one arm.  

“What’s wrong?” Jasper whispered.

Lapis wrinkled up her nose and whined, then shoved her in the boob.

“Cut that out.”  It hadn’t really hurt but it wasn’t the sort of hand-to-boob contact she wanted.

“Urgh.”  This time she managed to push the covers down to her waist and subsided with a faint sigh.

“Oh.  You don’t like to be covered right up either.”

“Whss…”  Lapis opened her eyes, then covered them with one hand.  “What was  _ that?” _

“You were sleeping.”

“Were you  _ messing _ with me while I was sleeping?”

“Not on purpose.  I was trying to snuggle you up.”

“Oh whatever.”  Lapis scrubbed at her eyes, then let her hand drop.  “Well, don’t.  I overheat easily.  Where’s Pearl?”

“Doing some kind of chores, I think.  Said she’d be back.”

“Mmhm.”  Lapis stretched her back, tilting her hips, and relaxed again.  “Had such a weird dream.”

“Yeah?”

“Pearl had really long hair.”

“She look pretty?”

“Yes, but it got in the way all the time.  I was trying to braid it up for her but it was growing and I couldn’t keep up.  You were no help.  You were… you were floating under the ceiling.  I think actually you were stuck, you didn’t look happy about it.  I think my dreaming part is defective.”

“I think dreams are just like that sometimes.”  She stroked the smooth dip of Lapis’ back, contemplating the fact that it probably  _ was _ okay now to just slide her hand on over the curve of her bottom.

“Did you put me on you like this?”

“Nup, but I like you being on me like this.”

“Jasper?”

“Hmm?”

“I lied to you about my first dream.  You know the one.”  Lapis laid her head down again, looking away.

“The under-the-sea one?”

“Yes.  I made that up, it was garbage.  I was just embarrassed.”

“You mean you were embarrassed you didn’t dream so you pretended you did?”

“No, I was embarrassed because I dreamed about sex with you and Pearl.”

_ “Oh. _  Wow, I think I’m flattered.  I mean, if it was good.”

“Well, I woke up feeling like I’d come.  You can imagine how disorientating that was.”

“Like you  _ had _ come or like you  _ would _ come?”

“Had.  Is the tense the important part?”  There was a note of dry amusement in Lapis’ voice.

“Well, I mean did you wake up satisfied or wanting more?”

“Are you seriously trying to judge whether the dream you got me off properly?”

“I don’t want her going around looking like me but providing an inferior service.”

“You might have to find her and beat her up, then, because she was nothing like as good as you really are.”

“Aw, now I  _ am _ flattered.”

“We weren’t under the sea.  I don’t know  _ why _ I said that.  After I said it I just thought, how horrible.  I had to go and tell her I dreamed we were in the one place she had the worst time of her life.”

“Don’t worry about it.  No harm done.”  It was just a little funny to her that Lapis clearly felt bad about that piece of tactlessness, but she wasn’t apologising for how surly and snotty she’d been at the same time.  Maybe she was only sorry for bad behaviour that wasn’t  _ deliberate. _

“We were somewhere warm and snug and dark.”

“Kind of like here?”

“Kind of like here.”

“I love this.”

Lapis turned her head again, resting her pointy little chin right on her sternum.  “What do you mean?”

“Dang, how is your chin that sharp?  It’s like a spearhead.”

“I’ll dig it in if you don’t tell me what you mean.”

“Well,  _ this. _  Lying here in bed all warm and mellow and still sleepy and talking about dumb stuff.”

“Oh,” Lapis said, sounding... relieved?  Reassured, maybe.  She lifted her chin and slipped her hand under it.  “It is nice.”

“I remember… well, this was a while ago.  Back Home, with my Jaspers, my unit.  Sometimes after we’d all fuck we’d just lie piled together and talk about everything and nothing.  Just tell each other bad jokes and old stories… and it was this nice feeling because… did you ever fuse with matching Gems?”

“Actually, no.  There were never a lot of us and we weren’t kept together.  Lapis Lazulis are… not people Gems.”

“You’re not conscious of the others.  You just feel like yourself bigger and stronger and badder.  But lying together like that, not even fused, I felt like… part of them and they were part of me.  And we all smelled the same.”

“Hah, I bet I know what you smelled like.”

“You have been nose-down in it.  Okay but it was nice.  Am I making sense?”

“Are you feeling like that now?” Lapis asked, a little hesitant.  “Like you’re part of me and I’m part of you?”

“Not the same.  I like it in a different way.  I don’t really know why I wanted to tell you about that.”

“Did you want to make me imagine you sprawled out in a pile of other naked Jaspers?  You succeeded.”  Lapis gave her one of her sly little smiles.  “But… thank you for telling me about a memory like that.  It’s a nice sign of trust.”

“Well, you told me about your dream.”

“Not to  _ obligate _ you to confide in me in return.  I mean, I have  _ done  _ that, obviously, but I wasn’t then.”

“Okay, but there’s sneaky shit like that, and then there’s what you said.  A nice sign of trust.  That’s all it was.”  She pushed Lapis’ sleep-tangled hair back from her forehead and kissed her there.  “Like you lying on me is a nice sign of trust.”

“I really didn’t appreciate till now how soft your tummy is, you know.  I mean, you’re solid underneath but there’s a really nice squishy layer.”  Lapis bounced herself gently.

“I’m not a waterbed.”

“I think technically anything I sleep on counts as a waterbed.  Me, water Gem, you bed.”  She hitched herself up a bit and kissed Jasper softly, closing her eyes.  “Or not.  Being a bed is not compulsory.”

“Good, ‘cause I have other plans for my life.”  Jasper slid her hand under the quilt to cup Lapis’ bottom.  “Holding your butt for a while, at least.”

“Jasper?”

“What? Too fresh?”

“No, you weirdo.”  She felt Lapis tuck her head under her chin, tilting onto her side a little.  “How’s your lip?”

“Little bit tender, but not enough to put me off using it.  That’s like my new favourite sex-related injury.”  She explored the spot with the tip of her tongue just to make sure.

“Sore pussy?”

Hearing that sent a little pulse through it.  “Kind of sore.”

“Mine too, to be honest.  I might have humped a bit harder than was strictly wise.”

“If you want I’ll kiss it better.”

“She said with all the subtlety and cunning of a tiptoeing elephant,” Lapis said, beginning to giggle.

“Kiss it better with my messed-up lip?  And I don’t need to be subtle, I’m big and hot,” she added with a grin.

“A big  _ animal,” _ Lapis said, giggling harder.

“Rowrsnort.”  Jasper rolled her over and crouched over her, making a kind of corral with her arms, and on impulse blew a raspberry against her neck.  Lapis shrieked and smacked her shoulder and threw her arms around her, kissing her so fiercely it really did hurt her lip a little.  

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lapis asked breathlessly.

“Improvising.  You need to tell me more about what you like.  C’mon, I want to get you making those little squeaky noises from last night.”

“Wasn’t me,” Lapis said, her eyes skating off sideways.  “I don’t squeak, you must have heard Pearl.”

“First time I went down on you there was definitely a squeak or two.”

“Went down, that’s an Amethyst expression, right?”

“Is that what you want?”

“You mean Amethyst? Desperately.  No no no, don’t get sad, I’m messing with you.  I think I want… mmm.  Kiss me, and stroke me all over with your big warm hands.”

“Okay… you use your hands too, show me where to go.”  Lapis’ hands were even smaller than Pearl’s, and her palms were sweating as she guided Jasper to lightly rub her breasts.  She could feel the nipples drawing tight and hard like little knots, and Lapis’ breathing, between kisses, was deeper and rougher.

“And here.”  Lapis drew her right hand down to skim over her tummy.  “I always want - here.”

“Yeah?  That’s one of my best places too.”  She stroked up and down, just under Lapis’ breasts to just above her mound, feeling her flutter and twitch.  It became easier to crook one arm behind Lapis’ head, cradling her, and stroke with the other hand, slow and rhythmic.  Lapis was beginning to moan faintly into her mouth as she kissed her.  Small, trembling hands pulled Jasper’s to massage her thighs, and at last gripped her fingers and drew them up to the soft wet cleft between them.

“Ooh, here.  Just - just work your finger round here.”

“Kind of a blunt instrument, I know.”  She could feel the firm little nub of Lapis’ clitoris under the pad of her finger, and the one thing she could have wished to be smaller for would be to work it with some delicacy and precision.

“Shh.  Oh…”  She was getting the look on her face that she had had riding Jasper’s mouth, greedy and joyful, moving Jasper’s finger in a rapid jiggling motion as her hips tensed and pushed.  “Oh, I love this.  Kiss me more.”

Jasper obeyed her gladly, slipping down into the swirl of Lapis’ sweet, demanding little mouth, every so often slipping her finger down to wet it and back up to rub in the staccato way she seemed to like.  It was rougher than she would have thought would feel good but Lapis was arching up to her eagerly, clutching at her, whimpering harshly.

“Now inside.”

“Open up, here I come.”  Jasper slipped her fingertip between wet, sleek lips, feeling for where she yielded, beginning to sink into the snug little opening.

“Oh no no no, wait.”  Lapis stiffened up, and she pulled her hand away as if stung.

“Shit, sorry, are you okay?  Did I hurt you?”

“No, no, I just...”  Lapis sighed and sagged back.  “I remembered Pearl said she really wants to see the first time we do that - and it’s not as if she’d  _ know _ if we pretend - but she wanted…”

“Oh, right.  Phew.  No, I get that.  She’s such a perv about my fingers.   _ That’s _ okay.”

“It is?”

“As long as it’s okay with you.”

“Good.  I mean it’s just for this one time, until she comes back.”  

“For me it’s… it’s really sort of hot if there’s this one thing we’re not allowed to do.”  She brought her hand back between Lapis’ thighs and began to stroke her again, more slowly. 

“Oh, like when Pearl gets all strict and forbids you to masturbate?”

“That kind of thing,” she admitted, looking down.

“Are you seriously getting  _ more _ turned on because you’re  _ not _ allowed to finger me?  I’m getting to know that look; you  _ are.   _ Come here, you big horny weirdo.”  Lapis planted her hands on Jasper’s cheeks and kissed her exultantly.

“I can’t help being weird,” Jasper mumbled.  The kiss took the sting out of her embarrassment and just left the burn, deep and low.

“Don’t want you to.  Roll over, I want to do something.”

“Okay.”  She rolled onto her back, carrying Lapis in her arms, letting go as Lapis pushed against her and sat up, shadowy in the dim light.  

“Hold still, hold still - well no, spread your legs and  _ then _ hold still.”  Lapis scooted herself backward, positioning herself with one leg over Jasper’s hip, the other against her inner thigh, bracing her weight on her arms as she ground their pussies together.  “How’s this?”

It was just off-centre from where she needed it to be, but it was wet and warm and sharply sweet, dragging a deep moan out of her.  She grabbed Lapis’ hips and pulled her in tighter.

“Oh, it’s like  _ that,” _ Lapis said, smirking a bit.  “Good.”’

“Can I move you a little bit?  Get it just right?”

“Mmhmm.  That’s better?  Like that angle?   _ Good. _  Here goes.”  Nipping in her lower lip, Lapis began to rock her hips.  “I - I still want to ride on you but I can give your mouth a rest.  Isn’t that kind of me?”

_ “Yes.   _ Oh Lapis…”  Jasper rolled against her, sliding her hands up Lapis’ back.  

“You - ooh - ooh, your giant clit is just so  _ good _ to rub on.  Hold me!  I’m slipping.”

“Right, sorry.”   _ Hands lower, keep them steady, oh look at her, she’s so hot she’s so hotshe’ssohot…   _ Lapis’  eyes were closed and her face radiant with fierce pleasure.

“I’m slipping because you’re so sloppy.  Giant clit and big sloppy cunt.  Can you  _ hear _ that?  Schlup, schlup, schlup.   _ So _ gross.  Aren’t you em - emba - ah - aah!”  Lapis’ hands squeezed convulsively on her belly, almost hurting, and her hips shook violently.  She shuddered to a stop, breathing hard, her head hanging, and Jasper thought that was the end of that, which was a shame when it had just started to feel really good.  Still worth it to see Lapis look that way and to hear her say such filthy things.

“Don’t stop,” Lapis panted, “why are you stopping?”

“Thought you were done.”

“I’m not done and neither are you.  K-keep fucking.”  She began to move again, weakly at first, her hips and legs still trembling.

“You don’t have to -”

“Stop  _ arguing.   _ I mean - do you  _ want -”   _ Lapis looked up at her, flustered and dismayed.  “Am I doing this wrong?  Am I being too mean?”

_ “No, _ I just thought you’d need to rest after coming like that.”

“Well, I don’t.  I’m fine, I want more, so...”

“Well - okay then.  Okay, that’s great.”

Lapis gave a weak, rueful laugh.  “We may be bad at this.”

“No we’re not.  Power through it.  Come on.”  She dug her heels into the mattress and ground against Lapis, inhaling sharply at the surge the friction sent into her.

“I - okay, I…”  She trailed off with a soft little grunt, rocking, leaning more heavily into Jasper, and her tongue flickered between her lips.  “Is that…”

“Yes,  _ fuck  _ yes.  You’re all… all silky and - and I love seeing you, love seeing you move like that.”  She slid one hand from Lapis’ lower back round to stroke up over her tummy, feeling her lean into her palm as she reached her breasts.  The dim light muted the clash of their colours, but her hand still stood out glaringly against Lapis’ skin, almost large enough to span her waist.  She kept stroking, up and down, trying to keep time with the roll of their hips, her hand beginning to tremble as the pleasure swelled, growing moment by moment.  She could hear herself gasping, Lapis’ voice rising in little sweet yelps, the squish and slap of their bodies together, and it was coming closer, she could nearly feel it,  _ there  _ it was, a burst of pure burning joy right up inside her.  Lapis was clutching at her again, shaking, her skin shining and her mouth falling softly open.  She sank down to sprawl on Jasper’s belly and they lay together panting, euphoric and dazed.

After a while, when they had grown calmer, Jasper felt Lapis awkwardly pat her on the arm.  “By the way,” she said, “I didn’t mean that  _ you’re  _ gross or anything about your body is.  It’s just that squelching noise.  I think it’s gross when I squelch too.”

She had to smile.  Lapis trying to be nice to her was always so peculiar.  “Oh, so it’s just the squelching noise, not the big sloppy cunt part?”

“I’m - I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t be, I liked you calling it that.  Pearl  _ really _ doesn’t like the word cunt and I’ve kind of missed it.”

“See, I  _ knew _ I was saying something she wouldn’t say and that’s why I was afraid it was too much… my mouth ran away with me.”  Lapis folded her arms and rested her chin on them, looking up at Jasper.  “Some guidelines would be appreciated.”

“Oh.  Um, okay.  You’ve been doing pretty great.  I  _ like  _ it when you’re making fun of me for being horny and desperate and having no self-control.  Giving me shit about how wet and sloppy I am and how messy my cunt gets is just part of that for me.”

“What are the no-go areas?”

“I don’t know.  My personality?  I mean, my personality outside of sex.  I wouldn’t want you to call me stupid or… like… criticise how I fight or… walk dogs.  It’s kind of hard to pin down but… I guess anything that makes me feel like you don’t actually like me or want me.  When you talk about how gross I am and I should be embarrassed it still feels like that’s something about me you  _ enjoy.” _

“That works as an underlying principle, I guess.  And it  _ is _ something about you I enjoy.  It’s weirdly endearing.”

“Oh, and don’t ever say anything bad about my hair.”  Jasper pointed at her warningly.

“The only bad thing I can think of about your hair is that it’s bigger than me and that can be intimidating.  You have probably the prettiest hair I’ve ever seen.  Don’t worry about that.  Can I talk about your ass?”

“As long as it’s appreciative.”

“Yes, I really appreciate how big and curvy it is and how it’d jiggle if I slapped it.”

“Oh, so you’re not going to stop at squeezing it and running away?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?”

“I’m not always submissive, just so you know.  Any more of those run-bys and you  _ will _ get chased and you  _ will _ get caught, and I won’t let you wriggle away next time.”

“It wouldn’t be fun without the risk.”  Lapis turned her head to rest on her cheek, looking thoughtful.  “But sometimes I’ll also just want to say something nice, and tell you you’ve got pretty eyes or beautiful skin or nice little perky tits, so can I say that too?”

“Compliments on my eyes, skin and/or tits are always welcome, even if you’re shaming me at the same time.”

“Good.”  Lapis gave her a lazy smile.

“Is there anything  _ I _ should be careful about?  Anything that hurts your feelings?  Besides the stuff I know about.”

“Yes,  _ besides _ all of that.  I don’t know, I sometimes feel self-conscious about my tummy, that little bit of pudge below the waist, but not that much.”

“Why?  It’s really cute.”

“Pearl says that too.  I just always wanted to be more streamlined all over, but it’s one of those things about my form that are hard to change.  I sort of reset to it, so it’s easier to pick my clothes to minimise it.  Do you have anything like that?”

“No.  Seriously, they gave me a great body, I like all of it.  I really lucked out.”

“Your conceit would be so obnoxious if you weren’t actually super hot,” Lapis said wryly, and yawned.

“You sleepy again?”

“You’re exhausting.  As well as a good bed.  But,” she said, and yawned again, “remind me we need to finish talking about this when I’m more awake.  You and your perversions, and how to work them to your liking.”  She laid down her head for a moment, then picked herself up again.  “I can’t sleep like this, your hip’s right in the wrong place.  Hold on.  Oof.  That’s it.”

“No it’s not, now I’m - how did you mess up the entire groove of the bed by moving a few inches?”

“I don’t know, it clearly had a precarious balance.  Anyway,  _ I’m _ fine.  Stay put!”

“No, I - what  _ is _ that under my ass now?  Okay, it’s my phone.”  She lifted her hips despite Lapis’ grousing and dragged it out.

“Ew,” Lapis said, making herself comfortable again.  “Ass phone.”

“It wasn’t  _ between _ anything.  Just under.  Must’ve been beside me and just slipped down, or I would’ve cracked it for sure.”

“Give it here?”

“Okay.”

Lapis clicked it on.  “Okay, yes, the Pearl picture makes a very cute lock screen.”

“How do you know how to do that, anyway?  You don’t use a phone.”

“Watching Steven play with his.  Also, Peridot taught me how to write BOOBS with a calculator.  I’m really very techie.  Tell me your password.  Why do you even have a password?  What secrets are you keeping in here?”

“I thought you were just supposed to have one.  It’s 3141.”

“Why?”

“I asked Pearl what her favourite number was and she said  π.  So that’s the first four digits.”

“This is probably the opposite of a secure password, you know.  I should change it.”

“What to?”

“8008.  Spells BOOB.”

“I don’t want my phone to spell boob.”

“Well, it won’t take five digits, so BOOBS is out of the question.  And I’ve done it now.”

“I won’t remember that!” Jasper protested.

“I’ll remind you.  If necessary, by tweaking your boob.”

“I remember when I thought you were this classy elegant court Gem.”

“The more fool you.  Now I’m going to rifle through all your stuff.  What’s this, Candy Crush?  I believe that’s widely considered a mom app.  Tragic.”

“Moms aren’t a bad thing, and anyway I downloaded it by mistake looking for Sailor Moon Drops.  I was  _ very _ confused.”  The camera flash went off in her face and she screwed her eyes shut, seeing spots.  “Shit.  Give a girl some warning.’

“It’s a good picture, though. You look all relaxed and drowsy.”  Lapis turned the phone around to show Jasper the screen, displaying a slightly too close photo of her own face.

“I don’t know about that, I’d say bleary.”

“Your eyeliner’s holding up, though.  Okay, hold on.  Let’s do one together.”  Lapis rolled onto her back, jammed her face next to Jasper’s and held the phone above them.  “Say cheese, or peace, or any old thing.”  She clicked the button just as Jasper said “Boobs,” and the resultant picture had Jasper grinning and Lapis blurry and snorting.

“Come on, I’d actually like you to have a nice picture of the two of us to carry around with you,” Lapis said.  “Let’s try again.”

“A nice picture where I have a bruised lip and we both have sex hair?”

“Private use only, right?  Get ready.  One, two, three.”   _ Click. _  She turned the phone to inspect the photo and then gave it back to Jasper.  “I like it.  I want you to keep that one, please.”

“Okay.  It  _ is _ pretty nice.”   _ I can’t believe Lapis just gave me, what, a keepsake of her?  I can’t believe she’s snuggling down with her head on my chest and she feels so warm it’s like we’re melting and blending together. _  Very gently, she trailed her fingertips up Lapis’ back until they brushed over the smooth curve of her gemstone.  She traced the teardrop outline and laid her hand over it, resting lightly.  Lapis breathed out with a long, soft sigh, closing her eyes.  Jasper breathed out in turn, and let herself drift on the tide.

 

After another vague period of drowsiness Jasper became sure she was awake again.  Lapis was still draped over her, fast asleep, but now Pearl was lying beside her, tucked in between her arm and her body.  She heard her sniff, and turned her head to find that she was… not crying, exactly, but lying there watching her with her eyes leaking tears.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, dismayed.  

“Oh, I’m being stupid,” Pearl whispered back, quickly wiping her eyes.

“You’re never stupid.  What’s the matter?”

“Just - please tell me that you still need me.”

“Of  _ course _ I still need you.  What the hell happened?”

Pearl hid her face under Jasper’s arm for a moment before surfacing, wiping her eyes again.  “Nothing.  I came back and found you two asleep together, and I could see you’d made love again and I felt so… surplus… because together you looked so  _ complete.” _

“Aw, Pearl.  Please don’t think like that.”  She lifted her hand to stroke Pearl’s cheek with the backs of her fingers.

“I know I shouldn’t.  I’m sorry.”

“You know what you should think about?  Think about last night and how you were leading us both and we both  _ loved  _ it.  We _ wouldn’t  _ be complete without you.  Even when we were fooling around we were talking about you.  Lapis  _ dreamed _ about you.  We love you.”  She remembered Garnet telling her Pearl would always need her to tell her she loved her at least one more time.  Too true.  

“I love  _ you.” _  Pearl wrapped her arms around Jasper’s neck and kissed her, the taste of tears in her mouth.  “Oh, my golden darling, I love you.”

“My birdie,” Jasper mumbled against Pearl’s lips.  “Just you remember, and any time you’re not sure, I’ll remind you.  I love you no matter what.”

Pearl drew back and sniffed hard, giving her a watery smile.  “I  _ know _ I’m being silly and insecure, you know.  And I  _ know, _ I really do, that you love me and so does Lapis.  And I’m happy, I really  _ am,  _ that you’re beginning to love each other.  It all goes on at the same time.”  

“It’s going to be okay,” Jasper whispered.

“It’s going to be okay,” Pearl repeated, nestling down with her head on Jasper’s shoulder.  “And doesn’t Lapis look sweet when she sleeps?  I was appreciating that too, even while I snivelled.”

“I can mostly just see the top of her head, but I love how she feels.  I had no flipping idea she’d do this.  I want to take a picture to prove it happened, but it’s too sneaky taking photos of her when she’s sleeping.”

“You have a witness.”  Pearl sniffed again, and smiled again.  “She looks like a tired kitten.”

“I don’t think kittens fuck like that.”

_ “Jas _ per!”  Pearl gave her a little swat on the arm.

“Well they  _ don’t.” _

“That’s  _ true _ but it still sounds  _ wrong,” _ Pearl said, frowning.  After a moment her lips twitched and the frown cleared.  “Was it wonderful?  She’s wonderful, isn’t she!”

“We hit a couple of bumps but it  _ was  _ pretty fantastic.”  She could feel a bright-eyed goofy grin taking over her face, and Pearl was beginning to giggle.  “I seriously haven’t been pounded like that in a while.”

“It’s interesting how differently she behaves with you.  Definitely more aggressive, but I kept feeling she was looking to me for approval.  What if perhaps next time we felt like being extravagant and orgiastic, Lapis was my wicked little assistant who enjoys punishing you?”

“That would be incredible.”

“Ooh, if she likes the idea it’s going to be  _ so _ much fun choosing what she should wear, and working out her part.”

“Do I get to help pick?” Jasper asked.

“You have a say in the story and characterisation, of course, because they’re a treat for  _ you,  _ but I want the costuming to be a surprise.  Don’t worry, it’ll pander shamelessly to your tastes.  Ribbons and flounces and saucy cut-outs everywhere.  Maybe riding boots.  I should jot this down before I forget.”  Pearl looked around as if a pencil and paper might present themselves.

“You don’t forget things like that.”

“Mm, no, but it would be fun to make some sketches.”

Lapis scrunched up her nose and made a grousing sound.  “You two are... overly chatty,” she murmured.

“Have you been listening?” Pearl asked, brushing Lapis’ hair back from her cheek.

“Not really.  Just woke up.  I dreamed again though.”  She wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hand.  “Why do my eyes feel gunky when I wake up?”

“I think it’s dream gunk,” said Jasper.  “The gunk of dreams.”

“I don’t know if I  _ dreamed _ Pearl talking about… sketching riding boots?  Or was that a conversation?  I’m fairly sure I only dreamed the part where Steven lived in a jar and I had to protect the jar but then I put it down somewhere and couldn’t find it.”

“The boots were part of a conversation, but I’ll tell you about it properly later,” Pearl said, still stroking Lapis’ hair.  “How’s my bluebell?  Have you been doing scandalous things to Jasper?”

“Is vigorous tribadism scandalous?”

“Very.  Well done.”  Pearl kissed her forehead.

“Next time I want to work out a different position,” Lapis said, turning her head to look up at Jasper.  “My legs weren’t right.  I thought I’d need them like that to get enough leverage, but it put me off balance.  I’m not sure if I need both knees on the bed or just - I don’t know, there’ll need to be some testing and rearranging.”

“I’m on board for that.  I mean, I think it’d work pretty well if you just scootched straight back from where you are now, you know, keep your legs either side of me.”

“Might do.  I feel as if I’d fall off backwards once I got going.  I’d like to sit up.”

“I think I can pull up  _ my _ legs so you don’t - or hold your hands or whatever.”

Lapis giggled.  “Holding hands while fucking?  Is that a  _ wholesome _ kink you have now?”

“Could be!  What do you think, Pearl?”   _ Damn it, we’re leaving her out. _  She looked more interested than upset, though.

“It’s worth a try.  It’s probably worth several tries.  I could… spot you, I suppose?”

“So much I want to try, and so little time.”  Lapis slid off from Jasper and wriggled in facing Pearl.

“All the time in the world.”  Pearl kissed her as Jasper turned onto her side to wrap her arms around them both.

“Well, ultimately, sure.  But what time of day is it?”

“Still early morning.  Do you have plans?”

“None to speak of,” Lapis admitted.  “Either of you?”

“I have dog walks in the afternoon,” Jasper said, “but the morning’s wide open.  Hey, Pearl, was that mess still in the kitchen?”

“No,” Pearl said, “but I found another in the bathroom.  I don’t know  _ who _ threw  _ glitter _ around in there but let’s be honest, there are two obvious suspects.  I did my level best but I think anyone who uses that bathroom in the next few months will probably be contaminated.”

“Well that’s okay, the main bathroom guy is Steven and since when would he mind glittering?  That’s rhetorical.  He wouldn’t.  Ever.”  Jasper reached over to pull the end of Pearl’s sash loose.  “Take your glittery clothes off.  Hold on,  _ you’re _ not glittery.”

“I wore gloves and an apron and a headscarf and a dust mask and I was  _ very _ careful.”

“But you  _ did _ promise us nudity when you got back,” Lapis pointed out, sliding one hand inside Pearl’s waistband over her hip, “and you’re making us feel underdressed.”

“Uh, yeah, I feel scruffy,” Jasper added, unravelling the bow.  “I’m probably going to get low self-esteem about it if you don’t at least take your top off.”

“This is us ganging up on you,” Lapis whispered.

“Oh dear, oh no, whatever shall I do?”

“Let us feel you up,” Jasper suggested hopefully.

“Oh  _ no, _ how absolutely  _ terrible.”   _ She fell on her back making a hammy swooning gesture with the back of her wrist pressed to her forehead.  “And Lapis, that promise referred to an earlier instance of coming back and you know it.”

“So?”

“So… I renew my promise, just this once.”  Her clothes flickered away and she rolled back into Lapis’ arms.  “And probably every other time you ask me nicely, because the two of you are next to irresistible.”

“We’re next to  _ you. _  Do you see what I did there?” Jasper asked, and winked.

“Did you actually just make a  _ chikchik _ noise at her?” Lapis asked, tipping her head back against Jasper’s chest to look at her upside down.

“The line called for it.  And I make cheesy jokes when I’m happy.”

“It was both cheesy and sweet, which would normally be disgusting, but in this case merits a kiss.”  Pearl stretched up to kiss her, combing her fingers into her hair.  

“Isn’t cheese…  _ cake _ a thing?”  Lapis asked.  “Is that a thing that happens?”

“Yes, but we don’t have to acknowledge it.”

“Cheesecake happens and it’s delicious,” Jasper said, “but I can’t eat much of it before I feel kind of sick.  Too rich.  I’m not good with rich creamy stuff.”

“What do you  _ do _ with all the food that ends up inside you?” Lapis asked, wrinkling her nose.

“I don’t want to talk about that and neither do you.”

“I certainly don’t,” Pearl said quickly.  “What I know is that other than the occasional trace of a taste in her mouth, I’ve never had to encounter any vestige of food about Jasper’s person, so clearly she’s taking care of the matter in a satisfactory way and that’s  _ all _ I need to know on the subject.  Ever.”

“Sorry about the taste traces,” Jasper said, a touch embarrassed.  Pearl hadn’t mentioned that before.

“No, they really don’t bother me.  Flavours are really just like smells, and I enjoy those.  My objections to food are founded far more on texture and on… aftermath.  But really, let’s not discuss that, I want this to be a nice time, replete with kisses and cuddles and pillow-talk and free from contemplation of uncouth bodily functions.”  She nestled down beside Lapis again.

“Do you want to tell us about where you’ll take us on your world tour?” Lapis asked.  “I know you want there to be surprises, but you could also stoke expectations a bit.”

“Well, Jasper has had a preview of one place already, so I guess the cat has one paw out of the bag anyway,” Pearl said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

“Why does  _ she _ get a preview?”  Lapis tipped her head back and gave Jasper an inverted glare.  “Why do  _ you _ get a preview?  I demand parity.”

“Don’t get weird, it was a water place and she wanted to check whether I could enjoy it,” Jasper said.  “And I finally could.”

_ “Oh,  _ this was that breakthrough you were vague about, Pearl.  I don’t mind about  _ that.” _

“Thanks.”  Jasper bent and kissed her on the forehead.  “That’s pretty big of you.”

“Not really.  I hardly get to complain about things you have to do to solve problems that were my fault.  I’m just glad to hear you’re getting somewhere with that.  What kind of water place was it?”

“A place of great scenic beauty,” Pearl said, smirking.

“She’s talking about me,” Jasper said, smirking back at her.  “It’s all just brown and rocks, basically, and there was kind of a smell - nothing terrible, you stop noticing it after a few minutes.”

“Well, that’s how it looks in  _ winter. _  We’ll also visit places that are having their spring and summer.  Four seasons in one day, if you want!”

“We’re talking about a geothermal spring, I take it?” Lapis asked.  “The smell was a hint.”

“Yes - and to be honest, a lot of my favourite places do feature water pretty prominently, but in most cases you can enjoy the environment just through sight and sound.  With the spring you really need to get in and  _ feel _ it, particularly since Jasper has a point that it’s not much to look at.  There’s also a cave that you reach by going behind a waterfall, but outside the cave is lovely too, with a pool and a stream and big smooth boulders left behind from when the river was bigger.  That’s in summer now, and it feels wonderful to lie on the boulders in the sun, and close your eyes, and listen to the the stream while the sunshine from above and the sunbaked stone from below both just fill your body with warmth.”

“What’s inside the cave?” Jasper asked.  “Does it have glow-worms like that other one?  I loved those.”

“No, but I can light the way and there are the most extraordinary rock formations, stalactites and stalagmites formed over millions of years.  If you  _ do _ want to come inside, well, the waterfall can look intimidating but the trick is to duck through quickly in the right spot.  There’s a small outcropping of rock that makes the curtain of water thinner in one place near the side.  I can hold your hand,” Pearl finished hopefully.

“Or… I can flow the water out of the way so you can walk through without getting wet,” Lapis offered.  “Just an idea, don’t have to do it, don’t have to do anything really.”

“I’d… like to play that one by ear.  See what I think when I see it.  Or you two can go inside and see the mites and tites and I’ll just sunbathe outside.  That’s good too, right?”

“But if you’re left out…” Pearl said uneasily.

“If I’m left out I won’t mind.  You know, not once in a while.  There are things you two like doing together that just aren’t my style.  Otherwise, what do we get?  Not Pearl, Lapis and Jasper having a good time together, just Pearl and Lapis feeling weird and not enjoying themselves because Jasper’s bored or super uncomfortable.  I would  _ rather _ wait for you.  And you’ve really sold me on those boulders, they sound great.”

“As long as you’re sure.”  Pearl plainly was  _ not _ sure, but she seemed willing to accept it for the time being.

“Plus I know Lapis is a nerd for stalactites and stalagmites.  So she definitely shouldn’t miss out because I might get spooked by a waterfall.”

“I’m not a  _ nerd,” _ Lapis said, reaching back to pinch her thigh.  “I just think caves are neat.  Waterfalls and riverbeds are also neat.  I love seeing how water shapes a landscape and changes a planet, and leaves its mark over hundreds and thousands and millions of years.”

“Geology!” Pearl exclaimed with a happy little wriggle.  

“Nerds,” Jasper sighed, and kissed the top of Lapis’ head.

“I’m  _ artistic _ mainly, but okay.  Big, soft kisses always welcome.”

“Here’s another one.”  Jasper pulled her up a bit and kissed her shoulder, sliding one hand down over her tummy.

“Oooooh, I made a mistake telling you how much I like that, didn’t I?  You’re going to use it whenever you want to redirect a conversation.”

“You know I like it too though.  Neutralises the advantage, right?”  She kissed the side of Lapis’ neck, stroking up and down.

“No, because you have giant hands.  I can’t do… um…”

“That special way she has of covering and stroking the whole area so you feel all little and precious?”  Pearl suggested.

“Yes.  That.”

“A feeling that’s only intensified if we’re both touching and kissing you together?”  Pearl kissed her mouth softly.  Jasper felt Lapis arch gently against her, her breath catching slightly.  “Is that good?  Want us to keep doing that?”

“Yes.  Please, very much, definitely.  Oh my goodness yes.”

Pearl laughed softly.  “All right, we understand.  You relax and we’ll take the best possible care of you.”  She glanced up at Jasper, her eyes smiling, as she slipped down to kiss Lapis’ neck.  Lapis tipped back her head, her eyes fluttering closed and her lips gently parting.  Jasper skimmed her hand down Lapis’ side and over her hip to cup her bottom again.

“I’m getting really fond of your butt.”

“Can you, um…”  Lapis opened her eyes to glance at her sidelong.  “Pearl was describing for me how you like to touch her when you wake up in this position.  Would you do that for me too?”

“I was thinking something like that.”  Stroking Lapis felt very like stroking Pearl, the small light frame, the neat little curves of her back, her bottom, her tummy and thighs, but they must vibrate at different frequencies or something, each with her own tension; that was unmistakably different.  She wasn’t quite as angular as Pearl; felt more solid, not so much as if she was honeycombed inside with air.  Soft tremors ran through Lapis’ dainty body and her hands fluttered; after a moment’s indecision she reached up and back with one, feeling blindly for Jasper’s hair as she stroked the back of Pearl’s neck with the other.

“I feel very spoiled,” she murmured.

“Good.  That’s what I want.  Spoiled, safe, happy little Lapis, cuddled up between us.”  She went on slowly massaging Lapis’ thighs and her bottom, watching Pearl kiss her breasts.  This felt strange; not in a bad way, just strange to see Pearl kissing breasts that weren’t  _ hers, _ but from nearly the same angle as if they were, and she wasn’t quite sure if she was  _ intercepting _ the little seductive upward glances Pearl liked to offer or if they were as much for her as for Lapis.  “Hey, there’s how to get the little squeaky noises.  Sucking your nipples, that’s  _ easy.” _

“Oh, shush and touch my pussy.”  She sounded amused, and even the little tug she gave Jasper’s hair felt affectionate.  “And I want the sweet nothings.  Pearl said you whisper sweet nothings, and I’ve never heard anyone actually do that.  Umm…”  She tipped her hips back as Jasper nudged her fingertips between her thighs from behind.  “C’mon, say something nice.”

“Hmmm… like how silky your little puss feels?”  It was a little difficult; she didn’t feel like she knew her way around Lapis that well yet.  What would she  _ like _ to hear?  “Or how hot it is to hear your breathing change when I touch you?  Or how I want you to feel, how I want you to…  I want you melting all over my fingers, I want you squirming and panting and begging me…  I just want you to know this is not my best stuff, okay.”

“Believe me, it’s not  _ what _ you say, it’s your voice and the way you’re breathing on the back of my neck and… ooh…”

“That’s the nature of sweet nothings, isn’t it?”  Pearl shuffled down and kissed Lapis’ tummy.  “And it looks so  _ beautifully _ indecent, with her strong fingers moving between your legs, rubbing your soft little lips.”

“Do you want to watch?”  Lapis spread her legs a little wider.  “Jasper isn’t your only little show-off, and we  _ did _ talk about you wanting to see her fingering me.”

“I can help,” Jasper said, slipping her free hand behind Lapis’ knee and lifting her leg.  “There you go, give Pearl a good show.”

“Spread me open, then.  Show her just how wet you’ve got me.”  Lapis turned her head a little to look up at Jasper, her smile lazy and warm, and she bent to kiss her as she pressed in and parted her fingers, feeling Lapis shiver.  

“Oh my goodness,  _ beautiful,” _ Pearl whispered.  “How does that feel, Lapis?”

“Um - very exposed, but in the nicest way, especially when you look at me with your eyes shining like that.  Jasper?  I think middle finger.  Here.”  She guided Jasper’s fingertip between her lips and slid it softly up and down.

“Can you see everything, Pearl?” Jasper asked.

“I can, I can.  It’s  _ wonderful.” _

“This is as far as we went without you, because I remembered you wanted - ooh.”  Lapis trailed off as Pearl pressed in to kiss her, her tongue stroking over Jasper’s fingertip as she nudged it upward.  “You - you can’t watch if you’re in there licking.”

“I know,” Pearl said, muffled, “I just want to so much.”  She nuzzled in again with a little lapping sound.

“And I might bop you in the chin by accident,” Jasper added.  “But I like how you’re making her pussy twitch.”

“You’re doing that together.  It’s not really fair,” Lapis protested with a shaky little laugh.

“This is  _ us _ ganging up on  _ you,” _ Pearl said, twinkling up at her from between her legs.  “I liked Jasper’s idea about the squirming and begging.”

“But aren’t you on  _ my _ side, Jasper?”

“This wouldn’t be the first time I changed sides.  Do you like it if I kind of swivel my finger round?”  She kissed Lapis’ shoulder again, sliding along to kiss her neck open-mouthed, sucking, sliding back to nibble on her shoulder while confirming that Lapis  _ did _ like the swivelling motion but, combined with the assiduous licking from Pearl, she wasn’t very articulate about it.

“I - I’m not begging but - but please, will you put it in a bit deeper?”

“Well, I could, but I’m really enjoying playing with your pussy just like this.  I can get it to make funny noises, listen.”  She flickered her finger quickly back and forth, producing another lapping sound that made Pearl giggle.  

“Don’t do  _ that.   _ You’re  _ gross,”  _ Lapis scolded her.

“Yeah, and you’re giggling too.  Okay though.  Here you go.”  She slipped her finger deeper, felt Lapis tense around it, and paused, just rocking slightly back and forth until the tension softened.

“Oh,  _ look,” _ Pearl breathed.

“Neither of us really can,” Jasper said, nuzzling against Lapis’ ear, “but I like how it feels.”

_ “In,  _ please,” Lapis murmured.

“I really like how you’re saying please, but this isn’t begging yet.”

“Oh, are you  _ serious?” _

“It feels good where it is though, doesn’t it?  Like if I circle my finger just here?”

“You  _ jerk.   _ I’ll whine.”  The giggling hadn’t stopped, although it was all mixed up with heavy breathing.

“Pearl will just have to spank you then.  I’m sorry, sweetie, I don’t make the rules.”

“Not your sweetie.”  She was wriggling her hips, trying to work them further down, and she popped her tongue out at Jasper.

“Sorry,  _ salty,  _ I don’t make the rules.”  She popped out her own tongue and licked Lapis’ cheek, and that turned into some kind of half kiss, half tongue fight that was so weird and messy but so much  _ fun _ that she slipped into pushing her finger in deep without quite deciding to do it.   _ I’m such a pushover. _  It didn’t matter with Lapis arching against her and moaning into her mouth.

“Pump your finger,” Pearl said.  “She likes slow, smooth strokes to begin with, but soon she’ll want you to quicken the pace.”  She was resting with her head on Lapis’ thigh and her fingers busy between her own legs.

_ “That’s _ better,” Lapis sighed.  “Oh... “  She twisted to wrap her arm around Jasper’s neck and pull her head down close to hers, their noses brushing.   _ “Now _ you’re doing what you should.   _ Good _ girl.”

“Oh, that’s really sneaky, using my kinks against me.  Little brat.”  She kissed her, soft and deep and heavy, thrusting into her slippery heat.   _ I love how she feels, I love how she moves her hips and squeezes on my finger, I love how out-of-control horny she is, I kind of love  _ her.  Lapis kept breaking off the kiss to issue demands, then diving back into it; she wanted that staccato stroke again but inside her, she wanted Jasper to let go of her leg and stroke her belly, she wanted her clitoris rubbed too, and everything got more ecstatic moans and shudders out of her until she arched like a bow and called Jasper’s name at her climax.  She went limp in her arms, breathing hard and slick with sweat.

After a little rest with Pearl stroking her hair back from her face and Jasper’s hand cupped over her tummy, she spoke up again.  “I’ll need you to do that a lot, you know.”

“Okay,” Jasper said readily.

“I mean I’m probably going to be pretty demanding.”

“Okay.”

“Are you going to say okay to everything?”

“Why wouldn’t I say okay to something that makes us both feel so good?  Not both.  All.  Pearl, you want to see more of that, right?”

“It was perfect, even if you were arguing,” Pearl said.  “But if it’s comfortable for you to bicker a bit while you make love, if that’s part of how you enjoy each other, I’m happy.”

“Just… don’t be so nice that you let me be lazy and spoiled all the time,  _ because I will,”  _ Lapis said.

“I don’t think you would,” Pearl said, surprised.  “Not when you’re so attentive to me.”

“It’s different with Jasper, there’s just something about her that screams to be taken advantage of.”  Lapis reached up and stroked Jasper’s cheek.  “No offence.”

“A little bit of offence,” Jasper said.  “Though I guess at least you’re trying not to.”

“I mean, I felt mean keeping both your hands busy when I know how much you like touching yourself at the same time.”

“Oh, no, that’s when I’m going down on you.  If I’m using my hands you get both and I focus on you.  That’s not me being generous, that’s just… not overcomplicating it.  And I get to notice all your reactions, all the details.  I really love that.”

“Oh!  Conscience cleared, then.”  Lapis gave her a big cheeky unrepentant grin.

“Well, it  _ shouldn’t _ be,” Pearl said, tapping her on the nose.  “Don’t you want to reciprocate and make Jasper feel just as lovely as you do now?”

“But I’m so relaaaaaxed,” Lapis said.  “How can you ask so much of a simple jellyfish?”

“Then you be a jellyfish and  _ I’ll _ have all the fun.”  Pearl clambered across Lapis to straddle Jasper’s waist, sitting up proudly.  “Best and dearest Jasper, fiery tiger-lily, most dedicated lover on the eastern seaboard,  _ minimum,  _ what would  _ you _ like now?”

“I didn’t know I was  _ that. _  You sure you checked with everyone?”

“Have you ever known me to be less than thorough?”  Pearl leaned forward, sliding her arms into Jasper’s hair, and kissed her.  “I assume you’d like kisses.  You’re generally keen on those.”

“All the kisses all the time.”  She laid her hands on Pearl’s back and ran them slowly up and down, feeling a happy little wriggle run through her.  Such a soft, familiar mouth, kisses like coming home.  “Love you.”

“Love you,” Pearl whispered against her lips.  

 

None of them really wanted to leave that room that day.  There were excuses - Pearl wanted to sew the buttons back on the flannel shirt, Jasper and Lapis needed to hunt around and find them - and forestalled reasons to emerge.  They all needed to clean up a bit but the water from the night before was cold, and most of it was used and soapy on top of that.  Lapis pointed out that she could (a) extract pure water from a mixture with any other substances and (b) heat it by agitation, and there went that reason to go looking for more.  She also demonstrated how she could bathe herself and Pearl by running films of water over their bodies, which was both impressive and pretty but made Jasper sufficiently anxious, in a minor, annoying sort of way, to be glad when it was over.  

Being clean, Lapis declared that she wanted to wear one of Jasper’s shirts again, and since Pearl was still working on the flannel one that meant going into the teeshirt collection.  That also made Jasper just very slightly uncomfortable, since she couldn’t be sure whether Lapis was asking her what the slogans on them meant out of curiosity and interest or to make a point about how silly they were.  But she really did want to wear one, so it was probably benign.  She settled on the yellow one with a tiger on it and then insisted that Jasper show her how she looked in the ivory silk teddy Pearl had made, which she’d honestly thought was down at the bottom of the pile, not in between shirts where it was easy to find.  Even if Pearl said she looked like a voluptuous queen in it, she still wasn’t quite over the feeling that it looked silly for a big beast like her to wear something so lacy and… pearly.  

Lapis sat staring at her, and Jasper was on the verge of saying something defensive and crabby when she said, “This is going to sound stupid, but I could always see you were beautiful and sexy and so on but I’m just now seeing how  _ pretty _ you are.  Wearing something pretty must really bring it out.”

“Oh.  Um.  Thank you.  Although I think I remember you calling me pretty before.”  She knelt on the carpet beside Lapis, casting a sideways glance at herself in the mirror.

“I think I just meant your eyes.  Not the whole thing.”

“You also called her pretty last night,” Pearl said, nipping off a thread, “but given the context it did sound as if you were teasing her.”

“What context was that?  I honestly don’t remember that part,” Lapis said.

“The context of sitting on her face,” Pearl said, rethreading her needle.

_ “Oh, _ right, that,” Lapis laughed.  “Yeah,  _ that _ was teasing.  You looked good but in a messy sweaty desperate way.  Do you  _ like _ wearing something pretty like that?  Apart from hair ribbons you aren’t usually fancy.”

“I… like it but I don’t think I can pull it off.”

“You’re wro-ong,” Pearl chanted, stitching.  “But at the moment Jasper only feels comfortable dressing up for special occasions and in private, and I’m hoping that will gradually increase her confidence.”

“I don’t care how confident I get, I’m not about to go out in public dressed like this,” Jasper protested.  “It’s underwear.”

“Then you could wear it under something else, silly.  And that’s only if you limit yourself to material clothes.  Work on your shapeshifting and you could wear anything you like every day.  Imagine getting Lapis to gaze at you in awe like that all the time.”

“I hardly gazed in awe.”

“I feel like no one is paying enough attention to how cute Lapis looks in my shirt!”

“You two are shy about the funniest things,” Pearl said, tying and nipping off the last thread.  “There you are, Jasper,” she added, tossing the shirt to her.  “I wonder how they’d look together?  Flannel and lace?”

“This shirt doesn’t even fit me unless I shrink down,” Jasper pointed out.

“I thought you said you’d ordered a bigger one.”

“I did, but then I busted a shoulder seam and lost all the buttons off  _ that  _ one because Amethyst bet me I couldn’t.”

“Bet you you couldn’t ruin your new shirt?” Pearl asked, puzzled.

“Uh, bet me I couldn’t burst the buttons by flexing.”  The puzzled look deepened into one of bafflement.  “Come on, don’t look at me like that.  Dumb bets and feats of strength are… a Quartz thing.”

“Feats of strength, yes, but… well, bring it here and I’ll mend it too.”

“Those buttons are long gone,” Lapis said.  “If things get lost in Amethyst’s room they stay lost until you find them again, years later, looking for something else.”

“Oh well.  I’ll get some more buttons later, then.”  Pearl tucked her needle and thread back into her gemstone and stretched her arms.  “I was thinking we might -”

She was interrupted by a knock on the door.  “Hey, P,” Amethyst said from outside, a little muffled.  “You guys alive in there?  I’ve run all the interference for you I can, Garnet wants you all upstairs like yesterday.”

“Oops,” said Pearl guiltily.  “Hold that thought.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, some fighting, surprising lack of smut but I felt like posting at this stage rather than get bogged down writing another epic instalment that I can't figure out where to stop.

Garnet intercepted them on their way up through the Temple.  She was leaning against the wall of the passage to the door, her arms folded and one foot up behind her.  She pushed off from the wall, stepping into their path, and Amethyst muttered “ _ Oh _ boy” under her breath.

“Garnet, I can explain,” Pearl said quickly.

“You don’t need to,” Garnet said.  She glanced from Jasper, who was feeling concerned about the fact that Pearl’s hand, holding her thumb, had just gone cold and sweaty, to Lapis, who looked not quite mutinous but possibly pre-mutinous.  “Pearl… I’m so happy for you that you have love like this in your life now, but I’ve left you to it too long and I need you back on deck.  Are you ready?”

“Yes, of course!”  Pearl straightened up.  “You can always count on me.”

Garnet gave her a brief smile.  “That’s what I expected.  And Lapis, are you ready to work with us?  We could use your help today.”

Lapis looked surprised to be asked.  After considering it a moment, she said, “I’m happy to help Pearl.”

Garnet looked at her a moment longer, her expression unreadable.  “Good,” she said.  “Come on, I’ll brief everyone together.”

Steven and Peridot were in the living room, he sitting at the breakfast bar and eating cereal, she sitting  _ on _ the breakfast bar and playing a violent game of Tetris.  They sprang to attention when the others came out, although Steven continued resolutely shovelling cereal into his face.

“There’s an outbreak of corrupted Gem activity in a heavily forested area up north,” Garnet said briskly.  “They appear to be a group - a bit like the Centipeetles when we first found them, but more scattered.  Larger, too.  I want us to break into smaller groups to intercept them individually.  Pearl, take Jasper and Lapis with you, Amethyst and Peridot, you’re together, Steven, you’re with me.”

The forest wasn’t only heavy, it was hilly and rocky.  As they spread out from the warp point, they had to force their way under and through low branches while picking their way over uneven ground.  Jasper put her helmet on, at least to protect her eyes from getting poked out, and bulled through ahead of Lapis and Pearl, clearing a path.

“You’re bad for the environment, Jasper,” Lapis said when she paused to get a derelict bird’s nest out of her hair, looking back at their trail of destruction.

“I know, and we’re making so much noise any corrupted beastie in the area’s going to hear us a mile off.  I hate environments like this, you’ve got no clear lines of sight and you can’t get a run-up at anything,” Jasper grumbled, scattering twigs.

“If we head down that way,” Lapis said, pointing off to one side, “we’ll come to a decent-size stream.  Things may be a little more open along the banks - at least we could move more quietly.”

“You can just sense where it is?” Jasper asked. 

“It’s a skill,” Lapis said, shrugging.

“It’s brilliant,” said Pearl, hugging her arm.

The trees grew thickly almost to the edge of the stream, but there was at least a thin strip either side of it cluttered with bracken that was easier to walk through, and you could see some sky overhead.  Here and there were faint animal trails down to the waterside, and when they had ploughed through the bracken a few hundred metres, a trail of destruction not unlike Jasper’s, smelling sharply of pine sap from the split and broken trees that something even larger than her had shouldered out of its way.

“You notice it doesn’t pick up again on the other side?” Jasper said.

“And the streambed’s disturbed,” Lapis said, “going that way.  It’s following the course of the water, heading upstream and staying  _ in _ the water, where it’s deepest in the middle.”

“Which suggests it’s hoping to confuse pursuit,” Pearl said, “concealing its tracks.”

“So it’s a smart one?” Jasper suggested.  

“It’s at least a cunning one,” she said, frowning.  “Might either of you be outdoorsy enough to hazard a guess how long ago it came this way?”

“Sorry,” said Lapis, and Jasper shrugged.  “But there’s room here for me to get above the canopy.  Want me to fly up and see if I can spot it further upstream?”

“What a wonderful idea,” Pearl said.  “It hadn’t occurred to me, but of course your wings are perfect for reconnaissance.”

“Funny, that,” Lapis said dryly, and sprang into the air.  They stood shading their eyes and watching her climb until she was a small darker blue speck against a lofty blue sky.

“I’d’ve thought I could see up her skirt from here, but no dice,” Jasper said, hoping to lighten the mood.  She was still feeling tense and hemmed-in, even with a little more space around them.  She wanted to feel more sure she could take action without just slamming into tree trunks.

“Don’t be terrible,” Pearl said, giving her a little poke in the hip.  “But isn’t she wonderful?”

“More use than me right now,” Jasper agreed.

“I wasn’t comparing you,” Pearl said, glancing at her.  “If we’re going to deal with a large, physically powerful monster that’s where you’ll come into your own.  I was just feeling rather fortunate to have such a diverse and balanced team.  I wonder how the others are getting on?”

“I keep listening, but I haven’t heard anything like a fight yet.”

“If we’re the first to engage, we can gather intelligence for them too.”  Pearl took hold of her thumb again, despite a brief grimace at the sticky pine sap that smeared her hands and arms.  “It isn’t my idea of fun, but I’m grateful to be here wih my two sweet, brave girls at my side.”

“I do kind of like us being your team,” Jasper admitted, smiling down at her.

After a few minutes Lapis returned, dropping down between the trees and skimming over the water a moment before landing knee deep in the middle of the stream.  “Found it,” she reported.  “If we head upstream - sorry, I’m bad at ground distances from the air but it must be a couple of miles at least - there’s a place where two brooks come together to form this.  In between them there’s a kind of triangle of shingle - finally some open space for you, Jasper.  It’s lying there resting.  It’s a very large, smooth, dark grey thing kind of like a six-legged lizard with a caved-in face, gemstone on the back of its neck.  If we hurry, well, and if we’re lucky, we might get there before it moves on.”

“Good work,” said Pearl, offering her hand to help Lapis out of the water.  “How large is very large?  Can you estimate?”

“Bigger than Jasper and smaller than Malachite,” said Lapis.  “That’s about it.”

“Hmm,” said Pearl thoughtfully.  “I’m wondering if we’d be wise to use a fusion.”

“I would  _ much _ rather not form Malachite,” Lapis said quickly.  “You  _ know _ it’s nothing against you,” she added to Jasper.  “It’s just… very uncomfortable and I really want to reserve it for total emergencies.”

“Oh, understood,” Jasper said, relieved.  As soon as Lapis had mentioned Malachite she’d worried about it.

“I actually meant Blue Opal,” said Pearl.  “What do you think?”

Lapis looked puzzled.  “But Blue is… a  _ fun _ fusion.  We’ve only ever formed her for dancing or, well, feeling close and enjoying each other.  I don’t even know how she would fight.  Is today a good time to find out?”

“Imagine what she could do with our combined powers!  And if that doesn’t work out we can still fight as a team, but I really think this is worth a shot.”

“True,” Lapis said doubtfully.  “I’ll be able to use the water from both streams, so I’ve got something to fall back on.  What do you think, Jasper?”

She was a bit surprised to be asked; it was their thing.  “I guess… I’d feel better going in as the three of us.  We might not even need Blue.  But then… I’m second-guessing whether I’m thinking that way out of habit, that you  _ shouldn’t _ need a fusion.  Maybe it is just smarter to go in fused and get a decisive advantage.  Yeah, you know what, do it.  I’ll back you up.”

They made their way through bracken and mud upstream.  The weather was cool here but the sun was strong, spearing down out of a clear sky, and it raised dazzle off the curling surface of the stream.  The forest was dully quiet, as if everything that lived in it was hiding until all this Gem business went away.  At one point they heard a distant sound of rending and crashing, and stopped to see if anything was going to happen, but the silence resumed.  

“I hope they’re all right,” Pearl said, biting her lip.  “Yes, I’m sure they will be.  That was probably just Amethyst destroying something.”

“As she does,” Jasper agreed.  She was getting really profoundly sick of bracken.  It was up to her knees and it snagged her feet constantly, and she really tried not to think of Earth as a garbage planet any more, most of the time she could see its good points, but bracken was definitely a garbage plant.  If not for the fact she was more or less blind when she did it she’d like to just wind up and roll straight over it like an escaped buzzsaw.  Lapis was walking in the stream again and Pearl could pick her way along the edge where the growth was thinner.  At least they were a little bedraggled - Pearl’s shoes and socks were muddy, Lapis’ skirt was wet from the hem up - so she didn’t feel like the only mess, but she’d just found a pinecone in her hair and she didn’t even know when she’d picked it up.  Forests looked a lot better in  _ The Iron Giant _ or  _ Return of the Jedi. _  It cheered her up slightly that there were probably no Ewoks.

They fell silent, trudging along.  Occasionally Lapis would pop up to the sky and come back to report that the corrupted Gem was still where she’d seen it.  “I could carry Pearl there,” she said when she returned the third time, “but Jasper presents challenges.  Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jasper said, scraping something unidentifiably organic off the side of her boot.  The other problem with bracken was that apparently small animals might crawl in amongst it to die in private, and then get stepped in by unsuspecting passers-by.

“I mean, I could  _ lift _ you, easy as pie.”

“You what?”

“Lift you.  Wrap water around you and whoosh.  Which I’m obviously  _ not _ going to do, and anyway  _ can’t _ do and fly at the same time.”  

She turned and walked on up the stream, leaving Jasper feeling distinctly rattled.  She knew, if she was brutally honest, that Lapis had always been capable of taking her down without using Malachite, that that had just been the way she’d chosen to do it because it would hurt more, because it was  _ personal, _ but it was one of those things that it really didn’t help her peace of mind to think about.   _ If she could lift me she could throw me.  She could have done anything, right there by the water.  I wish she wouldn’t have brought that up right when I’ve been feeling so good about her.  There’s no reason why it would ever get that bad again, I should be thinking about how good it is to have someone as powerful as her on my side.  Or just - just be a dumb horndog and watch how her ass sways when she’s walking.  Definitely a better thing to focus on. _

After a long and tedious slog, Lapis paused and held up her hand.  “We’re close now,” she said.  “You see where the stream bends just ahead?  Literally round that corner.  How do you want to do this, Pearl?  Fuse here or get to where we can see it first?”

“It just occurred to me,” Jasper said, “if you’d fused way back there I bet Blue Opal  _ is _ big enough to pick me up in her arms and fly with me.  I mean, she flies too, right?”

“Oh,” said Lapis, sheepishly.

“I trod in a fox.”

“Sorry about that.”

“I  _ think _ it was a fox, hard to tell once it went splat.”

“I said I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” Pearl said, holding out her hands to both of them.  “We’re learning to work together.  Missed opportunities happen and we’ll all remember next time.  For now, let’s fuse and approach quietly along the streambed.  Can you do that too, Jasper?”

“Sure, I just didn’t want to get cold wet feet if I didn’t have to.  Probably would have been less of a pain than the bracken.”  She side-stepped into the water and repressed a shudder as it soaked through her boots.  Still, it was more a shudder of “blech, feels chilly and muddy” than of existential dread and that was all to the good.

“Shall we?” Pearl said to Lapis, and they joined hands and briefly twirled together.  Light blazed and Blue Opal straightened up, looking around her cautiously.

“Uh, hello again,” Jasper said.  “How’ve you been?”

“I’m all right,” Blue said, and then hesitated as if there was something else she wanted to say but had decided not to.  “Shall we go?”  She didn’t look very prepared for a fight in her trailing layers of lacy mist, but she drew Pearl’s spear and held it ready in a fairly resolute way.  Together they waded along the stream and cautiously rounded the bend, peering out from the cover of the last few trees before the space opened out.

The corrupted Gem lay on a broad span of shingle in the Y of the streams’ joining, apparently basking in the sun.  Jasper would have put it at about twelve metres long, nose to tail, although she couldn’t be completely sure because of the way its body curved and coiled around, gleaming dully.

“Reminds me a bit of Haematite,” Blue whispered.  “Not in the face, obviously.”

“Yeah, that’s not much of a face,” Jasper agreed.  It reminded her of a humpback whale’s head, all huge, weirdly-curved jaws and somehow upside-down looking.  “I’m going to charge and hit it hard before it knows what’s up.  You follow me in.”  She squared her shoulders and stepped out of the shelter of the trees, making for the edge of the shingly ground where she could get a better purchase for her feet and start her charge.

“Wait!” said Blue, hurrying after her and placing a large, cool hand on her shoulder.  At the same moment the apparently sluggish Gem beast raised its head, lashed its tail like a whip and roared, revealing not sheets of baleen but a double row of teeth like huge needles.  Jasper became just a little distracted from engaging it by the fact that Blue immediately screamed and tried to climb up her back.

“What the  _ hell,  _ Blue!’  She staggered back with a knee in her back, another on her shoulder and Blue’s hands clutching together under her chin.  The beast lurched towards them and Blue shrieked again like a steam whistle.  “Get off me!  Do something!”  The whiplike tail lashed around at them and she avoided it only by heavily and painfully falling over.  At least the shock loosened Blue’s grip enough that she was able to buck her off and roll clear.  She came up spitting gravel but finding grip for her feet and the monster dead ahead.  She wound up and charged, hitting it with an impact that seemed like it would drive her head down into her shoulders.  Shoving through the pain, she punched again and again, feeling it skidding back from her.  It rolled away and she sprang back, eyes wide, trying to take in everything.  All she really got was that Blue was still fused and scrambling away on her hands and knees through the water, and the monster was swinging its bulk around to charge her in return.  She met the charge with another of her own before it could gather its momentum, and crumpled one side of its jaw.  Rolling clear, she hit something clattery on the ground that she instinctively grabbed as a weapon.  

It  _ was _ a weapon, Pearl’s spear - Blue had just dropped it.  Usually Pearl’s spear would have been a little small for her; the Blue version was so big as to be a little unwieldy.  She didn’t think she could throw it too well but the monster was charging her again, and it was holding its head up this time because its broken jaw was dangling.  She slammed the butt of the spear into the ground on an angle and just managed to aim the head in under the corner of the jaw before the monster ran onto its point with a crunch.  

That still didn’t poof it.  She was knocked flying by one lashing paw and slammed into the treeline.  Trunks cracked and caved in, branches stabbed into her back and legs and dirt flew everywhere from torn-up roots.  Where were Lapis and Pearl?  They should have separated by now; whatever was wrong with Blue was plainly not something to look into just at this moment.  The drive to fight back was still stronger than the pain or shock, and she rolled back out of the wreckage swinging a small tree as long and almost as thick as her arm, a club of knotted roots, earth and stones at its end.  The beast was thrashing around clawing at the spear that pierced its neck and emerged from the back of its head.  She felt just a flash of admiration for how tough it was before she struck it with her bludgeon, targeting the jaw where she’d already done damage.  The root ball burst apart and showered dirt and rocks everywhere, and she swung back for one more desperate blow with the stub of the trunk.   _ Crash,  _ and a screech like tearing metal, and a resounding pop as its physical form gave up the ghost.  

The pink fog cleared and Jasper scrambled forwards on her knees to grab the greasily-gleaming dark grey gemstone lying on the shingle, torn up by its claws and her feet.  Relief and triumph washed through her as she gripped it in her fist.  She picked up the spear and used it to help herself up, looking around, hoping, if she was honest, for applause.  

No Pearl, and no Lapis, no applause, just Blue Opal crouching in the streambed with her arms clasped over her own head.  

“Blue?”  That didn’t make any sense.  What was she still doing here?  And even if she was just trying to defend herself, if her first fight had been more than she could handle, why wasn’t she doing it… better?  She was surrounded by water and she seemed to be trying to protect herself with just her arms.

Following the relief and the triumph came a swell of anger.  “Blue!” she shouted.  “What was that?”  She stormed over and threw the spear at Blue’s feet.  It clattered against her ankles and rolled back towards her, Blue making no effort to pick it up.  “If you’re useless, what are you still doing here?  I want Pearl and Lapis!”

“I don’t want to fight!” Blue screamed at her, slamming all four of her hands down into the water with a splash.

“Well, that’s too fucking bad!  What do you think we’re doing here?  What’s wrong with you?”  She felt the gemstone in her hand pulse alarmingly, trying to reform.  “Can you at least bubble this?” she demanded, thrusting it at Blue.

“Yes,” Blue said faintly.  With shaking, dripping hands she enclosed the stone and dismissed it.  “You… you were strong enough to do that on your own.”

“No thanks to you, you coward!  You were supposed to be an advantage, not knee me in the back and half choke me!  What kind of fusion are you?”

“The wrong kind, obviously!”  Blue buried her face in her larger pair of hands and sobbed.

“Shit,” Jasper said quietly.  She got rid of her helmet and sat down heavily, shoving her hands back through her hair.  They got stuck.  More pinecones and a whole lot of sap.  She dragged them free and looked up at Blue.  “I’m sorry I yelled at you.  If you’re not a fighter, you’re not a fighter.  I guess we all just assumed you would be because of how tough Pearl and Lapis are.”

“I thought maybe I could be until it actually happened,” Blue said, sniffing and wiping away tears with her palms, “and then I knew I wasn’t.  I’m sorry, Jasper.  It was so horrible seeing you getting hurt but I couldn’t move.  All I could do was hold on.”

“Why  _ did _ you hold on?  Why not let go and let Pearl and Lapis handle it?  Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like half a spruce went through my left buttcheek.”  There was a tear in her pants and a gouge under it that was starting to really hurt now she was calming down.

“I don’t know,” Blue admitted.  “I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work, but everything - I just froze and I - all I could think about was to hold still and maybe it wouldn’t notice me and I could stay out of the way.  I think I - I think I  _ trapped _ Pearl and Lapis, I was so scared.”  She was shivering.

“Do you think you can let them out now?” Jasper asked.

“Do you hate me now?” Blue asked urgently.

“No, I was just pissed off.  I couldn’t hate you.”  She leaned forward and awkwardly patted Blue on the shin.

“But you do think I’m a coward.”

“I… that was harsh.”  It was still true, but she felt sorry for Blue.  “Like I said, you’re not a fighter.  Or like Lapis said, you’re a fun fusion.  That’s a nice thing to be.  You’re a nice person.  We won’t try to make you fight again if you don’t want to.”   _ You’d be a total liability.   _ “Do you think you can let Pearl and Lapis out now?  Because if you have trapped them - even if you didn’t mean to, I know you didn’t mean to - they’re probably pretty scared and upset.”

“All right.  I’m so sorry, Jasper.  I just - goodbye.”  Blue closed her eyes.  After a moment, she frowned.  A moment more and she wrinkled her nose.  Nothing else happened.  She opened her eyes and stared at Jasper.  “I was trying,” she said.  “I was really trying and I couldn’t.  I think I’m stuck.”

“You’re not stuck,” Jasper said, feeling a cold weight drop in her belly.  “Fusion doesn’t get stuck.  Does it?  Okay, no, we’re going to keep calm.”

“I can’t  _ keep _ calm, I’ve been terrified the whole time,” Blue said, her voice rising.  “Calm went out the window several minutes ago.”

“Well then we’re not going to get any  _ less _ calm, okay?  Okay.  Take a moment and think about it.  Pearl knows a lot about fusion, right?  So really  _ you _ know a lot about fusion.  Think it over and see if you remember anything like this.  No hurry.  Just think.”  She realised she was hunching forward and made herself sit back and try to look calm.  That wasn’t easy when she was so sore; her body was working hard to repair itself but she was scraped and bruised all over and gouged or punctured in a few places, nothing deep enough to take her down but quite enough to really hurt.  The left side of her ass was just  _ outraged _ at being sat on at a time like this, and on rough pebbles at that.  She told it to be patient and willed Blue to come up with something.

“I can’t think of anything when you’re staring at me like that,” Blue said wretchedly.  “I can’t think of anything at all.  Normally I can remember any of their memories, all I have to do is ask myself, but I’m having a really hard time reaching any of them.  It’s only things  _ I _ remember because I’ve  _ already _ remembered them so they became my memories too.  The last thing I had was - when we were walking here, I was getting so nervous and I tried to think of something nice they were happy about, and I knew Pearl was planning a tour, and Lapis was picturing you in all kinds of frilly undies, and that’s it and it’s no help at all.”  She put her face in her hands again, her shoulders shaking.

Now as well as disregarding aches and pains all over her body Jasper had to disregard her face burning.   _ Thanks a lot, Lapis.   _ “Okay,” she said aloud.  “It was worth a try.  You’ve got a mental block, that’s all.  It happens.  You know who else knows a lot about fusion - Garnet.  So we just need to go find Garnet and I bet she’ll know what to do about this.”  She got up and tried to give Blue a hug.  She had her knees drawn up in front of her so Jasper had to sort of reach in from one side and hug around her shoulders.  “It’ll be okay.”

“I’ve ruined things for you,” Blue cried.  “I’ve sealed them up somewhere and I don’t know how to let them out and they’ll be horribly miserable like you and Lapis were in Malachite and now Pearl can’t take you on her tour and Lapis will never get to see your underwear and everything is terrible.”

“Oh, shh.  Lapis has already seen my underwear, for what it’s worth.  And it won’t be like Malachite because they won’t be fighting each other.  They love each other and they’ll be good company.  This is a big problem but  _ everything’s _ not terrible, so stop beating yourself up.”

“That’s it!” Blue exclaimed, turning to her.  “You need to beat me up!  If you poof me then they can reform separately.”

“I’m not beating you up!”

“Just quickly.  I know, just stab me with the spear, I’ll try to hold still, but don’t tell me when you’re going to do it or I’ll -” 

“I’m not going to stab you!  Stop suggesting fucked-up things, we don’t have to do anything like that.  I don’t want to  _ hurt _ you.”

“Wouldn’t it be worth it to get Lapis and Pearl back?” Blue asked, wiping her eyes again and sniffling.

“No it would  _ not,  _ so stop thinking about it.  Wash your face and we’ll go look for the others.”

Blue splashed and wiped her face and got to her feet, head and shoulders above Jasper.  She shook herself and the water flew from her hair and clothes and pattered back into the stream.  

“Wish I could look good again that quick,” Jasper said, giving her a rueful grin as she dismissed the spear.  “I’m going to need a hot shower and maybe a rake to get all the crap out of my hair.  I was  _ not _ built for forests.  Oh well, here comes more hiking.”  She snapped her fingers.  “No, wait!  You might not remember but just before they fused Lapis and I were talking about whether you could lift me and fly.  We’ll be able to find them way faster that way.”  She held up her arms to Blue Opal.  “Want to see if we can?”

“I…”  Blue drew up her arms nervously.  “I’ll try.  You’re sure?”

“Sure I’m sure, give me a lift.”  She was surprised when Blue stooped down and picked her up, well, like a princess.  She’d been thinking she’d hold her under the arms or something.  She felt a bit embarrassed, but it seemed to have cheered Blue up a little; she was smiling at her hesitantly.  

“Comfortable?” she asked.  

“Yes, thanks.  No one’s ever actually picked me up like this.”

“What, never?”

“I’ve had a few piggy-back rides,” she offered.  It was reminding her of the daydreams she used to have about Yellow Diamond picking her up and holding her on her lap, even though Blue was nothing like Diamond size, and they just seemed more pathetic with the passage of time.  “So you think you can do this?  I’m not too heavy?”

“Light as a feather,” Blue said, giving a final sniff and a big brave smile.  “Here we go.”  

Her wings sprang out from her back and she leapt upward with a powerful downstroke.  Jasper flinched and quickly threw one arm around the back of Blue’s neck.  It wasn’t dignified to cling but the ground was dropping away below them astonishingly fast.

“Do you like it?” Blue asked, her voice raised over the whistle of wind in their ears.  “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“It’s - it’s something.”  She’d flown in ships, obviously, and that had never fazed her, but the  _ ship _ sheltered you from feeling the emptiness around you.  She felt as if gravity had a tractor beam on her.  Looking down was probably a bad idea, but if she couldn’t face that she was as big of a coward as Blue.  She could see the torn-up patch of shingle, the damaged trees, the streambed all muddied by Blue and herself wallowing around in it, all getting smaller by the wingbeat.  The forest spread out all around them, pointy treetops reaching for the sky to form a solid mass of green and brown, with a winding dotted line between them that must be where the stream ran.  It looked like a really short way compared with how long it had taken to walk.

“Would you feel better like this?” Blue asked.  Her larger, upper arms were behind Jasper’s back and knees; she folded the thinner lower pair like a kind of nest for her butt.  

“Oh, there  _ is _ a way for this to be more embarrassing,” Jasper blurted.  “No, don’t take ‘em away, I feel a lot safer without it just hanging there.  You’re… really strong.”

“It’s funny how comforting it is holding you.  It’s making me  _ feel _ stronger.  I’m going to fly in expanding circles and see what we can spot.  Keep your eyes peeled.”

“R-right.”   _ It’s supposed to be great to get to fly, I should appreciate it more.  Nausicaa would think I was a real wimp, even if she’d be nice about it.  I don’t suppose Blue remembers the movie.  Maybe it would jog her memory or help her to get through to  _ their _ memories?  Except then she might remember everything else from that night.  I might just have to take that, me being hellaciously embarrassed is not the issue. _

“Ah, there,” said Blue.  Off to their right was a bare bluff cropping up through the trees, and there were figures moving around on it - one massive shambling one in the middle and four smaller ones making darts at it.  “Oh look, they’re back together!”  She made a wide swing around towards the fight, Jasper tightening her grip around her shoulders.  It probably proved some kind of point that Blue was terrified to face an enemy but fearless in the sky, while she was in a cold sweat that she  _ really _ hoped wasn’t making her too slippery to hold.

Blue swooped in low but… braked was the only way Jasper could describe it, pushing back with her wings rather than land, and then flapping in place, watching the combat.  Garnet hit the dark green beast with an uppercut and knocked it on its back and that was Amethyst’s cue to lash its legs together with her whip, catching three of them.  Steven was covering Peridot with his shield while she hopped up and bobbed back into shelter, firing pellets of light from her slingshot.  Maybe one in three actually struck the target, but at least she wasn’t hitting her teammates.  Garnet wound up and delivered a final decisive punch and the monster poofed.  Jasper felt Blue relax a little then, and she descended to the bluff where she set Jasper down on her feet.  She hung onto Blue’s neck just long enough to be sure her legs were going to support her; it was a relief to have something solid under them again but she didn’t quite trust them yet.

“Way to make an entrance!” Amethyst yelled and whistled with her fingers in her mouth.

“Did you see me?” Peridot demanded, bouncing up from behind the shield.  “I  _ definitely _ weakened it!”

“Good job,” Garnet said, patting Peridot’s head with one gauntleted hand on her way to pick up the fallen gemstone and completely crushing her hair.

“Thanks for the assist,” Peridot said graciously, attempting to pat the ruins back into place.  “I mean, we would obviously have got it in the end but you and Steven showing up saved time.”

“That feels like all of them in this area,” Garnet said, bubbling the corrupted gem away.  “You got yours?” she asked, turning to Blue and Jasper.

“We did, but there’s a problem,” Jasper said.  “I’m hoping you know what to do about it.”  She looked up at Blue, thinking she was the best one to explain what happened, but she was hugging her own elbows and hanging her head.  “Want me to tell them?”  Blue nodded.  She tried to outline it as clearly and truthfully as she could without being too rough on Blue, or downplaying how rough she’d been on her at the time.  That seemed only fair, but it was a weird balance to have to strike.  The whole time Peridot was chipping in questions and Steven kept trying to dab spitty hands on her injuries, which was kind of him but felt weird when so many of them were on her backside and legs.  Garnet just listened, and Amethyst looked uncomfortable.

“What do you think?” Jasper asked.  “There’s a way to undo this, right?”

“Oh, I’m sure there is,” Garnet said, “but it’s new to me.”

“Really?” Jasper asked, dismayed.  “You’re like the Fusion Queen.  You’ve never seen this before?”

“Every fusion is different and every combination of Gems and their attributes can throw up surprises.  I don’t know if this is related to Lapis’ ability to hold you in a fusion you wanted to leave, but that was very strong and also new to me.  I never expected it to last as long as it did.”

“But I don’t want to hold this together,” Blue protested.  “Lapis held Malachite together with willpower and rage.  I didn’t even  _ mean _ to lock Pearl and Lapis in and I wasn’t angry, I was just afraid.  I would have been better off splitting up!”

“The first thing is probably to try to relax,” Garnet suggested, reaching out and touching Blue’s nearest arm.  “And I know how impossible  _ trying _ to relax sounds, but if you can get calm and comfortable you may be able to release what you were holding together when you panicked.  You’ve had a hard day - it looks like both of you have.  Pearl and Lapis are safe for now.  Let’s just all go home and unwind.”

“Works for me,” Jasper said, pressing her hands into the small of her back and trying to arch the growing stiffness out.  “I’ve got so damn soft that thing wiped the floor with me before I managed to finish it off.  I need to get out in the field more.”

“Come out with me tomorrow,” Garnet said.  “That should get you back into shape.”

“Yeah, as long as you don’t get us both poofed again.  Today was rough enough.”  She rubbed the back of her neck, wishing she could look forward to Pearl walking on her back at home.  Or Pearl untangling her hair, for that matter, and clucking over what a mess she’d got into this time.  Maybe it could still happen, maybe Blue could get  _ herself  _ untangled sooner than she thought.  Still, this morning she would have assumed confidently that tonight she’d be going to bed with Pearl and very possibly Lapis too, and this afternoon that was all up in the air again.  “How do we get down from here?” she asked, returning to practicalities.  “You guys didn’t fly up.”

“We climbed up the side,” Steven said, pointing downhill, “but I don’t know how safe that is now, ‘cause a lot of boulders got kicked down there.”

“It kicked rocks  _ at _ us!” Peridot said indignantly.  “The nerve!”

“I can give you all lifts down,” Blue offered.  “I’d  _ like _ to - to make up for before.”

“Let’s see if you need to first,” Jasper said quickly.  She could do without another flight today, even if it was short.  She went over where Steven had pointed, crouched and looked down the side of the bluff.  There wasn’t exactly a path but she could see where the rocks sloped and stepped down in ways you could follow; if you had short legs like Steven, Amethyst and Peridot you might need a taller person to give you a boost in places.  “Oh yeah, that doesn’t look too hard.”  The falling boulders had clearly done some damage; she could see marks of impact and places where the stone was chipped and splintered.  “I’ll go down first and check everything’s clear, then you can follow me.”  She let herself down feet first to the first convenient ledge, felt that it was stable and lowered herself to the next one.  “Feels okay,” she reported, stamping to test it.  It still felt okay right up to the point where the whole ledge sheared away and she fell with a series of painful, crashing bounces down the side of the bluff.  Her last conscious thought before her back broke and everything went dark was an indignant  _ Oh, what!? _

 

_ First I don’t get the backup I’m expecting because my backup screams and climbs me.  Then I get smashed around by a monster I attacked as if I’d  _ have _ backup.  Those parts aren’t my fault but then I had to go and be a mountaineer just because I didn’t want to fly again.  That’s completely on me and I’ll have upset everyone and Blue  _ really _ didn’t need to see that when she was already in a state.  What a total pain in the ass. _

_ Did I get cracked falling?  How would I know?  Does it feel different?  I think Amethyst said she got cracked once, I should ask her. _

_ First I need to think about how I want to come back.  Take the chance to come back better.  I think I must have sacrificed some durability or resilience or something on the last round.  That fall wouldn’t have finished me off once, even if I got roughed up first.  Probably thought too much about the clothes. _

_ I want to make the clothes better, though.  Not just copy something from a movie, come up with something that suits  _ me. _  And put a real star on it, not just half-ass it like that hairclip I came up with.  That was like, “Yes!  This is who I am now!  ...but I’m going to put it over here real small where you might not notice it.”  I should be able to do both, but I can’t take too long.  I want to get back there and make sure Pearl and Lapis are okay. _

 

She reformed in a crouch, ready to rise and stand, but held still when she realised that once again she was in Pearl’s room, in that disc of water.   _ Did she bring me here?  I hope so.  It’s like before, but I don’t have to have a fight with Lapis. _

Instead of Lapis, though, Blue was lying on the surface of the water beside her, curled on her side with her head propped up on her arm.  “Welcome back,” she said, a little wistfully.  

“Thanks.”  She was watching herself, waiting to see if she was going to have a bad reaction to this place again.  Maybe… not.  She looked around cautiously.  She didn’t  _ like _ the water pouring everywhere, the constant sound got on her nerves a little, but it didn’t feel dangerous now.  She relaxed a little.  “How long has it been?”

“Just two days,” Blue said, holding up two fingers.  

“Oh, good.”  She relaxed a little more and sat down cross-legged.

“Yes, bad news, I’m still here, good news, it hasn’t been all that long.”

_ She’s so down on herself.  I’ve never spent much time with her before, was she always like that?  Or did I do it, yelling at her?  If I’ve messed her up that’s horrible.   _ “Blue.  It’s not bad news you’re here.  It’s just - it’s complicated.  You being stuck and not knowing what to do about it, that’s the bad part.  Are you still feeling stuck?”

“As stuck as ever, and starting to wonder if it’ll just get more solid the longer it stays like this,” Blue said.

“What have you tried so far?”

“I’ve been trying to relax like Garnet said.  I’ve tried hot baths, soothing music, vanilla candles, good books…  I swam out in the ocean and floated and looked up at the moon, which felt nice but didn’t change anything.  Don’t laugh, but I thought orgasms might help, but I couldn’t get anywhere with that.  Oh!”  She sat up quickly, nervously twisting her fingers together.  “I’m not hinting for you to do anything about that.  Sorry, that was really TMI.  I - I sometimes don’t know how to - you and I are in a strange position with…”

“Privacy?” Jasper suggested.

“Oh, privacy, intimacy, boundaries, you name it, really.”  Blue giggled awkwardly and for a moment sounded very like Pearl.  “I’m sorry, I really don’t want to be inappropriate or bother you.  I tend to lapse into feeling as if we have a relationship that from your point of view has never happened.  It’s second hand.  I have memories about you that - I want you to understand I don’t go  _ looking _ for private or intimate things.  They come up by association when I wonder about other things.  I think about dance a lot, and that means I think about my body and how it moves and works and feels, and sometimes memories about  _ your _ body come along with that.  They, um.  They both think about your body a  _ lot,  _ I have to say.”

“There’s a lot of it to think about, I guess,” Jasper mumbled.

“I should stop talking about this.  The more I try to explain it the stranger I make it sound.  I guess it’s just a thing with being a fusion of two points of a triangular relationship but not the third.”  She stopped and her eyes grew wide.  “Could  _ that _ do it?  If  _ you _ fused with me, I wouldn’t be  _ me _ any more, there’d be a new fusion, and  _ she _ could probably separate.”

“Or I could get stuck too,” Jasper pointed out.  “Sorry, Blue, I want to help you, but I don’t want to take that risk unless things get desperate.”

“Even if you’d only be stuck with people who love you?” Blue asked.  “I mean, I see you don’t like this suggestion, but I think it’s a lot less… effed up than asking you to stab me.”

“Even then.  I’m still really hoping that next time I fuse it can be with Pearl.  I know I can’t be too picky, I know I might have to do it for an emergency, but it would mean a lot to me.  I just haven’t found the right time yet.”

“Oh, she would love that,” Blue sighed, clasping her hands.  “All right, I agree, I don’t want to spoil that for anything.  I want you two to have a  _ beautiful _ experience.  If it weren’t basically impossible I’d want to stage manage it for you.  The dancefloor, the music, the lighting - oh, what would you wear?  Pearl will probably want to wear a really elegant suit.  You too?  Or maybe a gown, something that really makes the most of your noble height with a long sweeping skirt - and either way you should absolutely have flowers in your hair.  White clematis, like stars!”  She seemed to catch herself, realising Jasper was staring at her.  “I get… overexcited sometimes.  Sorry.”

Jasper began to laugh, a little at first and then relaxing into it, leaning back on her hands.  “It’s okay, it was cute.  I feel like I know you a little better now.  You’ve got that nerdy enthusiasm thing of Pearl’s, in your own way.”

Blue giggled behind her hand.  “Guilty.  At least it was nice to feel enthusiastic instead of worried.”

“Speaking of what to wear, you seem like you’d have an opinion.  What do you think of this?”  She stood up to let Blue get a good look at what she was wearing.  “I’m kind of trying to figure something new out.  I know I’ve gotta be practical but I don’t know, I wanted to add something a little fun too.”  After a lot of thought she’d settled on a kind of burnt-orange tank dress with a short skirt that flared out slightly from her hips over black leggings that stopped under her knees and short russet boots.

“Oh, it’s great!  A perfect combination of sporty and pretty.  Turn around, let me see the back - lift up your hair, silly.  The racer back suits you so well!  And I love the big bold star on your chest.”

“Yeah, I decided I should really own it,” Jasper said, putting her hands on her hips and looking down at it with a smile.  “That star in my hair was such a cop-out.  Thanks, Blue, I needed someone to tell me this was a good idea.  I thought it  _ probably  _ was but there was just that little nagging doubt that I’d look like I was trying to be something I’m not.”

“Do you want to go and show the others?”

“Yeah, I should show my face.”  Since she was standing and Blue was sitting she offered her a hand, although it felt weird to do that and have the other person straighten up to be taller than her.

“Oh,” Blue said, looking troubled.  “I forgot to tell you, your phone broke when you fell.  I’m sorry.  We had a call from Greg saying he was getting people calling him asking where you were because of their dogs?”

“Oh, crap, I completely blanked on that.  Garnet called us up and I just went.”

“It’s all right, because he could just tell them the truth.  You had a fall and got hurt, so you couldn’t come or tell then you weren’t coming.  They all understood.  If it’s important to you, I don’t think you’ve lost any clients, and Greg said he’ll get you another phone.”

“Ugh, I still feel bad.  I could have texted them to cancel before we went off on the mission.  And I guess the phone doesn’t matter, but I had photos on there I liked.”  She realised she couldn’t even look at her pictures of Pearl and Lapis while she waited for them to return to her, even the weird embarrassing sex hair one.

“I’m sorry,” Blue said again.

“It’s not your fault I make a shitty mountain goat.  Ah, whatever.  Could’ve been way worse.  Let’s go and show ‘em.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a completely gratuitous Amedot fluff and smut chapter, because those should happen more often.  
> With anal; whether that should happen more often is entirely a matter of personal preference.

A day passed, and another, both grey and cold and rainy, and Blue Opal remained apologetically but very definitely fused.  Connie came back, with henna patterns on her hands from the wedding, and was startled but then clearly rather pleased by the change in Steven.  His teen angst was dramatically ameliorated by that reaction, so that was one thing to the good, if only one.  

Everyone was uncomfortable; everyone missed Pearl.  

“I feel like it’s a little rude not to miss Lapis more, but Pearl’s just always been there, you know?” Amethyst said.  She was lying on the lumpy couch under a blanket, eating marshmallow fluff from the jar while Peridot messed around on her laptop, leaning against the other end of the couch.  Their feet were nestled companionably together.

“I think I may miss Lapis marginally more than Pearl, but it’s difficult to quantify.  And it’s not like when someone reforms and they’re out of commission for a while; it’s so weird to know that they’re  _ in _ there but apparently can’t separate.”  She paused thoughtfully, choosing a torrent.  “Do you think it would help to electrocute her a little bit?  Literally shock them apart?”

“Sure, if you want Jasper to pound you into a grease stain.  She’s like really protective of Blue, even though she must want her to split more than anyone.  I offered to poof her real quick and clean, you know?  It doesn’t look like it would take much, but she kind of bit my head off.”

“A destabiliser would do it too, but of course we don’t have any left.  I guess it’s not too bad for Lapis and Pearl, though; kind of like being Garnet even if it only happened by accident.”

“But I  _ love _ Garnet, and sorry, but nobody loves Blue.  Tell you the truth?  It’s always bugged me a bit that she’s an opal.  Opal’s  _ my _ thing with Pearl.  Urrrrrgh, I sound like such a bitch.”

“You do a little, but I know what you mean.”  Peridot rubbed Amethyst’s foot between the soles of hers sympathetically.  

“I mean I’m getting all wiggy suspicious.  Like what if Blue is only  _ saying _ she can’t unfuse because she wants an excuse?  What if she’s actually keeping them locked down and they don’t wanna be there?”

“What would be in that for her, though?”

“I dunno.  I’m probably only even thinking this because I know  _ Lapis  _ can be sneaky.  Remember those sexy water Jaspers in the dance recital?  Maybe Blue wants to put the moves on the real one.”

“She picked a weird way to do it, then.  Jasper got beaten up, which clearly didn’t endear Blue to her.  You heard her say how she yelled at her.”

“Yeah, but  _ now  _ Jasper’s got the guilts about that, plus she wants Pearl and Lapis back, so she’s spending all her free time with Blue and doing whatever she wants, right?”

“Okay, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal, but how would you feel if you knew someone was doing everything you wanted just in the hope you’d go away?  Because that’s basically what it is, isn’t it?”

“I dunno,” Amethyst grumbled, stretching her tongue to lick out the bottom of the jar.  “Maybe she just figures she’ll enjoy the ride while it lasts.”

“You know it makes me go weird when you do things like that with your tongue.”

“Normally I’d  _ lurrrrve _ to do freaky things with my tongue till you scream with frustration and jump me, but I think I’m just too bummed.”

“Oh.”  Peridot looked at the progress bar on her torrent; there was an unaccountable shortage of seeds for a TV movie about a rapping polar bear that the actor who played Pierre in  _ Camp Pining Hearts _ had been in during one of the show’s summer hiatuses.  She thought about mentioning how ironic it was that a show set in a summer camp was off the air in the actual summertime, but on second thought she was fairly sure she’d shared that observation with Amethyst before.  She put the laptop safely to one side.  “Well, I can offer supportive spooning.   Is that any good to you?”

“Yeah, skootch in.”  Amethyst rolled onto her side and lifted the blanket up behind her, and Peridot wedged herself in between the back of Amethyst and that of the couch.  It was a squash, but it was cosy.  She wrapped her arm over Amethyst’s waist and rubbed her cheek on her shoulder.  Even if she was doing it to be comfort _ ing _ , she always felt comfort _ ed _ by the warm soft squishable mass of Amethyst’s bottom in her lap.

“Helping?” she asked, and spat slightly to get a puff of hair out of her mouth.  “Ptheh.”

“Yeah.  You got anything  _ you’re _ worried about?”

“Besides the Blue fusion weirdness?  Well, there’s the usual background worry over Homeworld and Yellow Diamond deciding to check on us again.  It’s been an oddly long time with no sign.  The main thing I think of to try to feel better about that is that maybe something else is going on that’s just keeping her too busy to bother.  Some crisis or other.  Maybe even another colonial rebellion.  Information about the one here is kept pretty well suppressed, need-to-know only, but someone else could have the same idea independently.  I had such tunnel vision when I lived there, I wish I’d looked more at the bigger picture of what was going on politically.  Nope, just focused on my assignments, diligent Peridot.”

“It’s such a weird thought that there are lots of Gem colonies out in space.  Although I guess only to me.”  Amethyst placed her hand over the back of Peridot’s and interlaced their fingers.

“Well, if any of them are rebelling right now, I wish them smashing success and thank them for taking the heat off us for a while.  A decisive victory would be nice and everything, but I’d take just being placed indefinitely in the too-hard basket.”

“It’d be good to  _ know _ if we were though.”

“I know,” Peridot said with a small sigh.  “Otherwise there’s just this infinite suspense.  It feels to me like more than enough work to straighten things out on this planet, and then… then what?”

“What if it’s like thirty years from now, and we’ve all got comfy feeling like nothing’s going to happen, and Steven and Connie have a buttload of kids and we get to be the cool aunts, and then one day boom, we look up and there’s an invasion fleet in the sky?”

“On the other hand,” Peridot said slowly, as the idea unfolded to her, “what if they turn up and find not just us, but a planet’s worth of formerly corrupted Gems, healed and strong and united in purpose?  Led by a Quartz at the peak of his powers and ready to defend ourselves?”

“Wow,” said Amethyst with a little snort, “you’re really cutting Steven’s work out for him there.”

“But seriously, Amethyst, what if?”

“That would be… crazy.  I can’t even imagine that many Gems being around.  The first part of my life I was all alone, and then it was just me and Rose and Garnet and Pearl.  That was my normal.  It was always us.  Oh sure, sometimes Rose would get a GF or a BF for a while, but they were just the flavour of the month.  And I  _ knew _ there were whole worlds full of Gems far away, and I knew the others had lived there and missed it, but it didn’t feel real like the four of us in our temple did.  And even when they talked about finding a way to heal the corrupted Gems in the bubbles… I always hoped a little bit that it wouldn’t happen and it would always be just us and I’d never have to deal with strange Gems and what they’d think of me.”

_ “This _ strange Gem ended up thinking you’re the best.  And if any others didn’t appreciate you, I’d give them a piece of my mind.  After all, they spent five thousand years bumming around being monsters, so who are  _ they _ to criticise?”

Amethyst snorted again, more appreciatively.  “Maybe don’t talk about ‘em like that to Garnet and Pearl… but thanks, babe.”

“Is there anything that’s worth more than Amethyst from the planet Earth?”  Peridot sang into her hair.

“Yeah, a burger.”

“Noooo.”

“And a booger.”

“Cut that out.”  Peridot pinched her bottom with her free hand.

“Oww.   _ Savage.” _  Amethyst rolled over, almost crushing Peridot into the gap between the back and seat cushions, and kissed her.  Her lips were sweet and sticky with marshmallow and just as soft.  Peridot opened up to the kiss and wrapped her arms around Amethyst’s body.  Her bottom  _ was _ pretty well wedged into the gap now, which was mildly uncomfortable, but both the pleasure of the kiss and the feeling that she’d been this much of a comfort to Amethyst overrode that.  Nothing else really mattered, for the moment.  She had high hopes that weird tongue things would ensue, but Amethyst drew back and stroked her hair and looked at her all sentimentally, which was good too.

“Did I ever tell you about Sugilite?” Amethyst asked.

“I think you mentioned her once.  Your fusion with Garnet?”

“That’s her.  She’s amazeballs - huge and badass and funny - but the problem with Suggie is she doesn’t always want to go back in the toybox when playtime’s over.  And that wouldn’t necessarily be a big problem except her favourite thing to do in the world is break stuff.  One time last year we formed her for a big job - ‘cause we needed stuff broken - and she refused to split up.  In the end Pearl took her down -”

“ _ Pearl _ took a fusion of  _ you and Garnet _ down?”

“Technically she tricked her into taking herself down, but it was pretty good.  Anyway, she poofed, we came back, there was hugging and learning.  I think based on  _ that _ Pearl would be the first to say go ahead and poof Blue, but Jasper doesn’t want to hear it.”

“Though to be fair, Blue isn’t going around breaking things.  Yesterday she changed a lightbulb and dusted the ceiling beams.”  Peridot paused, thinking, and incidentally prying her butt out of the couch crevice.  “What was that like for you, when Sugilite didn’t want to unfuse?”

“I didn’t want to either.  I was having the time of my life.  The only thing that feels better than being Sugilite is being Tourmaline with you.”

“Awww!”

“But like I said, there was hugging and learning, and in the long run I learned that staying in a fusion ‘cause you don’t like having to be alone with yourself is a pretty bad idea.”  Amethyst moved her hand to the dip of Peridot’s back, gently stroking up and down.  “And a while later - see, I don’t remember if I’ve told you about this either, but did you even  _ know _ that when you were on the run, Pearl secretly fixed this broken communications tower again and again and told us it was you so Garnet would fuse with  _ her _ to make Sardonyx and smash  _ that?” _

“If you needed to smash it, why not use Sugilite again?”

“Garnet didn’t want to ‘cause of what happened before, which made me feel like cold poop.  She said it was her fault too but I know I let her down.  And then after she found out Pearl was tricking her, we did form Sugilite to finish the job and I could feel she was  _ so mad _ at Pearl and it was all business, in, out and done.  I hated that.”

“Why did Pearl  _ do _ that?”

“Same reason I wanted to stay in Sugilite,” Amethyst said, shrugging one shoulder.  “She wanted a break from being her, she wanted to feel good, she wanted to feel the way Garnet does, all strong and confident and full of love…”

“Do you think she could be doing something like that again with Blue Opal?”

Amethyst sucked her teeth, thinking about it.  “Nah.  No, that’d be weird.  For one thing, that time with Sardonyx blew up in her face but good.  For another, I don’t think - I mean, it’s not that having someone to love you fixes everything forever, but it feels  _ so _ great.”

“It  _ does,”  _ Peridot agreed emphatically.

“So even if it also feels great being Blue, why would she want to miss out on being  _ Pearl _ together with Jasper?  I guess I don’t see her making that trade.”

“Speaking as someone else with a hot Quartz warrior girlfriend I can confirm it would be a poor choice.”

“Ha ha, also thanks.  But then what if it’s Lapis?  Is she the one keeping things locked down so Blue  _ can’t _ unfuse?”

“Why would Lapis want to do that to herself either?  Things were just getting so good for the three of them.  I mean, sleepovers!”

“You think maybe something bad happened  _ then _ that made Lapis decide the next day she wanted to close herself and Pearl off from Jasper?” Amethyst asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

“What?  No, I’m sure - no, look, you saw how they all were when we were getting ready to go on the mission.  The body language.  The twinkly eyes.  I mean, I’m a shipper.  I think I can recognise when two or more people are into each other.”

“Buuut what if Lapis was faking?  That used to be her whole thing.”

“I don’t want to think that,” Peridot said forlornly.  “I want to believe in Lapis.  And I want to think that the three of them were  _ happy _ that morning.”

“Me too, bud.”  Amethyst kissed her forehead just above the gemstone, and sighed.  “Guess we’re not doing any good stewing over it here.”

“I’m glad I know what you’re thinking, though.”  Peridot nestled down and rested her head against Amethyst’s chest.

“Oh, you’re going right for the boobs?” Amethyst asked, sounding amused.

“I’m  _ snuggling _ with you.  Boob proximity is coincidental.”

_ “My _ boobs are  _ never _ coincidental.  They arrive precisely where they mean to like two round jiggly Gandalfs.”  Amethyst started to laugh and couldn’t stop for a bit.  “Oh, man, I can’t work nerdy, it’s terrible.  Plus I only watch hobbit movies for the orcs.”

“I don’t watch hobbit movies at all, so that was lost on me, but I enjoyed how they jiggled when you were laughing.”

“Yeah, boobs are fun.  That’s one thing I’m really glad I added to my form growing up.  Big hair, fun boobs.”

“That’s two things, or three if we count the boobs individually.”

“I actually  _ had _ three boobs for a few months after I saw  _ Total Recall.” _

“Oh, I’m glad you went back to two.  I think two’s the ideal configuration because I have two hands, and one face to smush between them.”

“Yeah, three was good for impressing people the first time I took my top off, but nobody really knew what to do with ‘em.  Believe me, I’ve tried a  _ lot _ of different boob options.  Big ones, small ones, pointy ones, round ones, innie nipples, outtie nipples…”

“Until you finally refined them to perfection,” Peridot said happily, rolling Amethyst’s tank top up over her breasts and gazing on them adoringly.

“Nah, this is just the version I was on when I got bored with the whole project.”

“Really?  But they’re so  _ great!” _

“Oh wow, your face,” Amethyst giggled.  “That really shocked you?”

“No, but - I mean - well, I guess you could debate whether you inadvertently lucked into the exact configuration that would most perfectly appeal to my predilections  _ or _ whether I would end up loving and fixating on whatever you have because it’s  _ you,  _ but yes.  Anyway!”  She squeezed Amethyst’s breasts together and smacked a loud kiss between them.  “They’re a wonderful feature of a wonderful figure and it is my privilege to play with them.”

“Mmhmm.”  Amethyst propped her head on one hand and stroked Peridot’s hair with the other.  “I’m not going to argue with that.”

“Seriously, you didn’t make your nipples this puffy and cute on purpose?”  She ran her tongue around the rim of one areola, feeling where the texture of the skin changed from velvety to silky.

“Oh, I thought they’d be cute, sure, I just didn’t think at the time they were, like, my final form.”

“And they’re so  _ rewarding _ because they start out tucked in and gradually bud out as you get more aroused and I know I’m  _ doing that.” _

“Kind of like a titty turkey timer.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about so I’m just going to suck your nipples now.”

“Also not gonna argue with that.”  Amethyst closed her eyes, sucking in her lower lip as Peridot sucked in her nipple, her chubby cheeks purpling.  A soft sigh escaped from her, and Peridot felt her gently quiver and relax.  She nudged Amethyst onto her back and shifted to the other breast, covering the first with her hand and massaging it firmly.

“Mmm?”  She looked up at Amethyst for approval.

“Oh, fuck yeah… keep going just like that.”  Her chest rose and fell, breathing deeply, and her legs moved against Peridot’s, gently rubbing.  “That’s the good stuff.”

Peridot took her time, enjoying and lingering over each little reaction she could get.  Amethyst gave husky little sighs and moans, moving impatiently against her mouth and her hands.

“Hey Peri,” she murmured after a while.

“Hmm?”

“Speaking of changing your body.”

“Mmhm.”

“Remember you said you wanted some time to practise forming a dick by yourself?  How’s that going?”

“Oh, um.”  She lifted her face and wiped her chin.  “It’s… improving?  I don’t think it’s as good as yours yet but - ahem - hrrmm - I’ve been practising masturbating that way and I can hold it in shape long enough to have an orgasm, anyway.”

“That’s fantastic!  Go Peri.”

“It goes straight back in after that, though.  Like letting go of a measuring tape.  Although it doesn’t make that rattling zipping noise that always spooks me, thank goodness.”

“That’s okay, it’s still a big improvement, right?  You know I’d love to see it.”  Amethyst flicked her eyebrows up and down, her gaze warm and half-lidded.

“I want to show you but I’m just trying to manage your expectations, okay?”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“Ahem.  Okay.”  She sat up, the blanket slipping down her back, and tucked her thumbs into the waistband of her pants.  She hadn’t wanted to change her socks when she reformed but it had struck her as practical to change the rest of what she wore; now she had, basically, a sports bra and hotpants that were adequate as an outfit on their own but minimal enough to be underwear when she wore material clothing, which was most of the time.  With that and the star hair she was very happy with how she looked now; the tricky part was ensuring that any new additions were up to the same standard.

“Woo, take it all off,” Amethyst said, grinning.

“Quiet, you’ll mess me up.  I’m not like you, I have to  _ concentrate.” _  She pulled them down in front and kept them hooked down with one thumb; with her other hand she brushed back her hair and parted her labia.  It helped to already be warm and wet from her quality time with Amethyst’s breasts; she was very conscious of how the whole area felt, sweetly tingly.  She’d researched the anatomy and it  _ was _ true that a penis and a clitoris were just the same structure developed differently (that had sounded fake when Amethyst told her) but it still didn’t come simply to her to make the change.  It felt  _ weird _ shapeshifting and expanding this one part of her body _ ,  _ but it was starting to be exciting too, like when they’d been messing around with those little clicky weighted balls and she’d found that after putting them  _ in _ her vagina she could squeeze them back  _ out _ , and how hot and wet and hard and strange they felt as she gradually forced them out and they popped free.  In that case the interior massage of repeatedly inserting and ejecting them had eventually brought on copious squirting and uncontrollable giggling.  Even her new and improved pussy had been sore after all that effort but it was well worthwhile.  If that worked, this could.

“I… I think that’s done it.”  She looked it over critically.  “Yeah, that’s the best I’ve been able to get.”

“That’s amazing!” Amethyst exclaimed, sitting up.  “How’s it feel?”

“Once I’ve got it out and  _ set, _ it feels - normal?  I mean, it feels  _ good,  _ the way I’d want it to.  It only feels strange getting it to that stage.  I tried to refine the shape a bit - what do you think?”

“It’s so cute and chubby!  Oh shit - cute and chubby was what you were going for, right?”

“Exactly!  I mean - I have to admit, I’ve been more influenced by, um, certain types of online artwork than by photographs of penises.  I did look at them for research, but… ew.  I like the artificial version better than the real thing, I think.”

“Ha, yeah.  The real ones don’t live up to all their hype.  I’m like that about artificial cherry flavour so I know whatcha mean.  Can I touch it?”

“Let’s try it.  I think now I can hold it if you do.”  She trembled as Amethyst wrapped her hand around it, but the transformation held and she felt a surge of confidence.  “It’s working.  It’s working!  Yeee!”

“How ‘bout that?  Want me to jack you off a little bit?”

“No, I - well, do you think it would be overly ambitious if we tried to have sex like this?  It probably is, right?  I mean I’ve only been successful masturbating so I don’t know if -”

Amethyst cut her off with a kiss.  “Go for it.”

“What if I can’t hold it, though?  What if I get too excited and it just pops back in?”

“What if?  C’mon, this is for fun, and you’ve got like ninety thousand other ways to get me off.”

“Well.  That’s hyperbole but I  _ am _ pretty good,” Peridot admitted, snickering.

“C’moooon.”  Amethyst lay back and spread her legs, her clothes dissolving.  “Right here, just for you.”  She slipped her fingers into her pussy and drew them out.  “See how wet I am?  Imagine how that’s gonna feel all over your dick.”

“Okay okay!”  Peridot scrambled on top of her, kissing her feverishly.  “Okay, keep in mind I’ve never done this with part of  _ me _ before.”

“Yeah you have, you use your hands and your tongue all the time.”

“Not part of me that can have an orgasm!  So hold still, all right?”

“Okay.  Happy to lie here, believe me.”

“So I’m going to - okay, that feels really different.”  Peridot drew back and tried again, guiding the tip in between Amethyst’s plump lips, holding her breath until she was nestled right in.  Her breath escaped from her in a low whoosh.

“Good?” Amethyst asked, a trifle smugly.

“Oh my stars this feels  _ so _ weird.”

“Just weird?”

“Good too but -” she breathed in again sharply and grunted, “super weird.  This - this still feels like it’s my clitoris and now it’s - it’s expanded and enveloped and - and eeeeesh.  Ooh…”

“Yeah?”

“You’re squeezing.”  

“Yep.”

“Oh, you are  _ really _ good at that.”

“Yyyyyeup.”  Amethyst was watching her with a lazy, indulgent smile.  “You want to move?”

“Oh heck yes.  Let me just - okay, that feels good.”  She got her knees set on the lumpy couch cushion and rolled her hips forward.  Amethyst gave a soft, appreciative grunt and pulled her head down for a kiss.  That felt just right, their mouths together, Amethyst’s tongue surging against hers, the growing sweet tension as she pumped her clitoris deep in pulsing, slick warmth, and everything in between, how soft and  _ cuddly _ it felt to rest her tummy on Amethyst’s, how strong her arms were around her back, how her thighs squeezed her hips.  Amethyst breathed encouragement against her lips, interspersed with impassioned little cusses, thrusting steadily back against her.

“Periii…”  Amethyst’s voice was a low, exultant groan.  “Keep it coming, I  _ love _ this.”

“Enjoy it, I don’t know how long it’s going to last.”

“You’re rubbing me in a  _ really _ good place.”

“Ditto.”

“Is it going to mess you up if I grab your butt?”

“Maybe!  Go for it.”  Amethyst’s hands spread out and squeezed in on her buttocks, kneading in inward circles.  “Ac - actually that’s helping!  I feel steadier.”

“You look so  _ proud _ of yourself for fucking me this good.”

“I  _ am _ proud!  Imagine what this will do for my grade point average!”  She began to giggle, still thrusting, and that set Amethyst off with a snort and a rumble of laughter that rolled from her tummy into Peridot’s, and she could feel the laughter  _ inside _ Amethyst too - and of course she’d felt that before, but only on her fingers or against her mouth, not with this kind of immediacy and intimacy that despite all her best intentions for putting Amethyst’s pleasure first rocketed her into an orgasm in seconds flat.  Everything dissolved into shuddery sweetness and she could only pant and twitch her way through it.

“Aww… I’m sorry, I - oh, that was  _ so _ great, though.”  She giggled again, weakly.

Amethyst kissed the top of her head, smushing down her hair.  “Hey, I’m proud of you.  You try all  _ sorts _ of weird shit for me.  And now we know you can do it and you just need more practice!”

“I’ll practise as much as you’ll let me, believe me.”

“Oh, I’m going to let you practise in my pussy, in my mouth, in my ass,  _ anywhere _ you want to stick it.”

“What, like, under your arm?”

“You want to  _ armpitfuck _ me?”

“No, I’m just baffled as to where else - oh wait, yes, between your breasts works too.  I’ve seen pictures of that.”

“There you go.”

“It seems a little selfish, though.”

“I guess, but it’s its own kind of fun.  Hey Peri?”

“Mmm?”

“How about your ass?”  She patted it, just to be quite clear which ass she meant.

“Be more specific.”

“May I kindly have your permission to fuck you in the ass?”

“Oh yes,  _ that,  _ certainly.”

“Roll over, red rover.”

“I’m  _ green.” _  They got themselves turned over with some pushing, awkward pants removal and further giggling, until Peridot could lie on her tummy, her legs drawn up like a frog’s, with Amethyst kneeling behind her massaging her bottom again.

“Man, I wish I had a camera.”

“What would you do with the photos?”

“Show you how hot you look from my point of view, I guess.”

“My phone is over there,” Peridot said, gesturing to a small molehill of car batteries that she sometimes used to charge things.

“Since when do you have a phone?”

“Since Jasper got one and I was envious, but mine is better because I made it  _ and _ it can connect to any network without paying a bill.”

“You anarchist.”

“I think free data and minutes is the  _ least _ I should get for all I’ve done for this planet.  Anyway, if you really want to take pictures, there it is.”

“Hold on,” Amethyst said, hopping down from the couch and pattering away barefoot.  She inspected the molehill and turned around with the Periphone in her hand.  “Is this it?”

“Yep.  Come back, I feel dumb sticking my butt out like this if nobody’s leering at it.”

“Is the case of this thing made of  _ duct tape?”  _ Amethyst asked, pattering back.

“Yes, I can’t exactly manufacture moulded plastic casings here.  It was that or, like, hew it out of wood, and I’m not a  _ savage.   _ Although I did use popsicle sticks to reinforce the sides.”

“It works, though!”  She climbed back up onto the couch and gave Peridot’s bottom a friendly pat to let it know it wasn’t forgotten.

“It’s distressingly basic compared with what I used to have, but it’s what I’ve been able to cobble together.  It’s certainly good enough for taking butt pictures.”

“Well hey, in all fairness, a bit of your pussy’s in the shot too.  Can you look back over your shoulder - yeah, that’s great, you don’t have to make a special face or anything.   _ Nice.”  Click.   _ “So was there, like, a design meeting where they were like, okay, let’s make her smart and hard-working,  _ but let’s also give her the most succulent ass anyone’s ever seen and have her wear a tight leotard?” _

“If there was I wasn’t alive yet so I don’t know - but flattery will get you most places.”

“Will flattery get you to reach back and spread your cheeks?”

“Um.  Yeah, probably.”

“Flatterflatterflatter.  Ooooh, Peridot, you’re so smart and cute, you put up with my weird bullshit, you’re, um, you’re good at board games - and  _ bingo.”  Click. _  “Are you blushing?  You’re blushing.”

“No duh.”

“Tell me how your asshole feels.”

“Twitchy.  It always feels twitchy when you start talking about it.”

“You want me to play with it?”

“I believe it’s implied by the way I’m  _ presenting _ it to you.”

“Aw, you’re so grumpy,” Amethyst said, smiling.

“You’re keeping me waiting taking photos!  You could at least have the decency to finger me a little.”

“Ha!  Okay, here we go.”  Amethyst licked her finger and rubbed it up and down the cleft of Peridot’s bottom, travelling further down to dip into her pussy.  

“Ahhh…”  Peridot sighed and reached between her legs to rub there for herself.

“Feel under that cushion under your head, I’m pretty sure I stashed some lube down the side of the couch.”

Grumbling, Peridot fumbled around and found the bottle, although she found half a roll of fluffy Mentos and a matchbox first.  “There,” she said, passing it back.  “Be more organised next time you want to bugger me, I should be able to relax at a time like this.”

“Stashing lube in places where we might fuck  _ is _ being organised, dontcha think?”

“All right, it is, but please hurry, I’m - I’m degradingly keen now.”

“I know, I just need to warm it up a bit with my hands.  You don’t like it cold.”

“Cold’s fine, I’ll warm it up myself, just please get busy touching me.  Oh yes yes yes yes, thank you thank you thank you.”  Strong slippery fingers were gliding up and down and pressing in on the opening at each pass, then one fingertip settled in and began to gently disturb matters with a little twiddling motion.  “Ghhheeeeeee… push it in a bit.”

“Okay, but just a bit, ‘cause I know you, you get greedy and then it’s all ow, Amethyst, why did you push so hard so soon?  My little candy ass is all sore.”

She hugged the cushion one-armed, pressing her cheek into it and trying not to wriggle too immoderately.  “You taught me to like this, now you have to deal with what you’ve unleashed.”

“True that.”  Amethyst pressed in and she felt a deep  _ prod _ of pleasure; the sensations in her anus always had that kind of abrupt, totally unsubtle quality to them.  She heard a  _ click. _

“Are you still taking photos?”

“Yeah, I thought it’d be fun to lay them out like a little dirty comic strip, finger, fingers, dick, et cetera.”

“Oh… okay.  Ohhhh…”

“You want to see?”  Amethyst leaned over her back and showed her the screen.  She peered at it doubtfully.

“Ummm… okay, I think that does more for you than it does for me.  You can keep taking them, I just don’t need to see all of them.”

“You’re sure?  Okay.”

“If there are any with really nice composition… just don’t get distracted from your main job here.  And on pain of death, take care you don’t upload those anywhere or send them to anyone by accident.”

“Oh hell no.  I always think I’m really lucky I got my super-slutty phase out of my system back when you needed two VCRs just to make a copy of anything.  How you doing there?”

“Goo-hoo-hood.”

“Kind of guessed from the way your toes are twitching and that goofy grin.”

“Moooooore please.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get it.  Gonna pump it in and out a bit and get you loosened up.”  Amethyst bent over her again, kissing the nape of her neck as her fingers worked.  The middle was nice and deep and she seemed to be working on getting the ring finger in alongside it.  “I love your squishy little butt,” she murmured.  “You made it so nice for me.  Seriously,  _ good _ job on that.  You make good phones and good assholes, you’re  _ so _ talented, baby.”

Peridot snorted, pushing her hips back as far as she could stand.  “You’re still working the flattery angle?”   _ There _ went the ring finger and she gave a little gurgle of shocked pleasure.  “That feels so  _ rude!” _

“Nah, it’s really ladylike, you can tell ‘cause I’ve got my pinky finger sticking out.”   _ Click.   _ “There, see?”  Amethyst put the screen in front of her face again.

“O-okay.  Okay, it’s - you know, I think I  _ do _ like seeing how, um, how stretched it is.”

“Sense of achievement, right?”

“I’m kind of amazing!”

“Love ya, proud of ya.”

“Okay, I think I’m ready, any time you are.  Just start with the slimline version before you chub it up.”

“Brace yourself for the purple python.”

“That name is really not going to work - oh, oh,  _ oh…”   _ It was sinking in and seemed to be filling her belly and it was gloriously hot and fat and slick.  She could feel Amethyst shuffling up to her too, soft pudgy thighs tucked snugly against her bottom, and her hands clutching her hips, and she heard her breathing in deep soft surges.  Thicker and deeper and hotter and she was trembling, her eyes squeezing shut; her fingers were still working against her clitoris like clockwork though, and she was quite proud of that.  One of Amethyst’s hands - the one that wasn’t so slippery - lifted off her hip and after a moment she heard another  _ click,  _ although this one seemed oddly loud.

“Check it,” Amethyst said, poking her in the cheek with the corner of the phone - straight away, she was holding it by her face in the first place.  “That’s your getting fucked in the ass face.”

“I don’t care, take one of the fucking itself.”

“Take a look and I’ll make a video.”

“Okay, I’m looking.  Well, that just looks  _ silly.   _ Passionate, though!  You have to give me that.”

“Have to give you this, too.”  Amethyst rolled in and pushed the wind out of her.  If there was any more clicking she neither heard nor cared; she was just rolling along with the pumping, pulsing inside her, grinding down on her own fingers until shocks of pleasure rewarded her and things went white and glowy for a while in her head.  By the time her head cleared Amethyst was just finishing off, by the feel of it, her hips shaking uncontrollably against her until she slumped down over Peridot’s back, breathing raucously, heavy and feverishly hot.  

For a while she just panted and made little appreciative moany sounds that Peridot echoed gratefully.  Then she moved the Periphone back into her line of sight and fumbled at the screen with her thumb.  A small, shaky, extremely obscene little video played a couple of inches from Peridot’s nose.  Her visor was too misty for her to see it very well but it had a rhythmic quality she enjoyed, particularly the way the little image of her own bottom flexed and rocked.

“Look at that, I’m pornography.  I’m so moved.”

Amethyst snickered and kissed the back of her neck.  “Congrats.”

“But I mean it, you can’t call it the purple python.  Or you can but I won’t.”

Amethyst blew a little raspberry by her ear.  “No taste.  What’re we going to call yours now?  The Peridick?”

“I actually don’t want to call it a dick at all.  I’m not sure why, it just doesn’t appeal.”

“Well, Pericock nearly rhymes.  Or Peridong.”

“No, I mean I don’t want to call it a penis or any other names for penis.  Is that silly?  I know it might be silly.”

“No reason why you should, I guess.”  Amethyst lifted herself up and withdrew from Peridot’s body, then rolled onto her side in between her and the back of the couch.  “Is it okay with you if I want to call mine things like that?  I really like having a dick sometimes.  It feels like me.”

Peridot turned her head to face Amethyst and made a somewhat cramped effort to straighten her legs out.  “If it feels like you, do you want to have it all the time?  I guess you could if you wanted to, couldn’t you?”

“Mmm… nah, it’s a part-time thing.  I like it that way.”

“Okay.”  She leaned over to kiss Amethyst’s snub nose.  “When I make one it doesn’t feel like  _ me _ exactly, or it feels like a fun add-on or an extension.  Like a dildo I can feel through too.  So I really enjoy it, but I don’t feel… attached to it?  Or  _ proud _ of it like I feel about my pussy and my anus.”

“But you’re okay with mine?”

“Well, of course I am.  And I’ll call it a dick as much as you want, I only object to that snake nonsense.”

“Ooh, what about the purple poon-pump?”

“Eesh…”

“Purple pussy-pounder!”

“I like that better but do you need to say it’s purple every time?”

“The lavender lady-lover.”

“What about the Amethrust?”

“Yeah, like the sequel to the Amefyst.”

“The violet vagina-visitor.”

“That sounds like it pops in for tea and cookies.”

“Boysenberry butt-banger.”

“Boysenberry?”

“It’s sort of purple.”

“Grape gut-groper.”

“No, that’s just getting distasteful.”

“Yeah, I could hear it going wrong as I said it.”  Amethyst reached down and pulled the blanket back up, wrapping it over her arm and around Peridot’s shoulders.

“Well, thank you for the pounding, pussy or otherwise.  I enjoyed every single thing.  Now delete the photos and the video before you fall asleep and forget, or I’ll have to destroy you and neither of us would enjoy that.”

“Got it.”  Amethyst looked over Peridot’s shoulder at the phone screen, clicking around.  “There, baleeted.”

“Good.  I mean, we can’t risk that getting out, it would just make everyone else in the world feel inferior.”  She snuggled into Amethyst’s warmth, resting her head on her chest.  “This time I’m going for the boobs, but only in a cosy, drowsy way.”  She kissed the nearest one available and closed her eyes in contentment.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that is mostly talking, unresolved sexual tension and dogs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel as if this needs some kind of visual reference for what Blue Opal is wearing; it's clear in my head but I worry that it's vague without sitting down and giving you a point-by-point description of her outfit Ann M. Martin-style. However, I cannot draw worth a tinker's cuss so it may have to remain vague.

It took a concentrated effort for Jasper to go into Pearl’s room again.  She didn’t  _ think _ she’d actually be scared or panicky in there again, waterworks or not, but she still  _ felt  _ as if she would.  It was weird, and she didn’t understand how much of the way she felt was how she actually  _ felt _ and how much was just how she expected to feel out of… habit, maybe?  No, it really wasn’t habit.  She didn’t have a good word for it.  Feeling scared in a place just because you were scared there before, even if nothing bad ever happened?  She was just relieved to find it wasn’t something that really had the power to stop her now, at least for this particular place.  She squared her shoulders and marched in.

_ No, I shouldn’t walk in here like I’m looking for a fight.   _ She rolled her shoulders forward and back, deliberately dropped them and opened her hands.  Even when she was relaxed she usually carried them in loose fists, ready to tighten up any time - now that was habit.  “Blue?” she called out.  “You here?”

“Just a moment,” Blue called back from somewhere in amongst the fountains.  “I’m in the bath.”  The general soft rush of water was disrupted by a specific splashing, and Jasper’s composure was similarly disrupted by involuntarily imagining her standing up in her pool, naked, with water streaming down her  _ that’s enough of that.  I’m feeling like that because I’m  _ lonely  _ and of course she reminds me of them.  It’s been four days.  What am I going to be like after a week of this?  I don’t even really  _ want  _ to, she’s just - _

Blue appeared from between columns of water, fortunately fully dressed, although her clothes had always tended towards diaphonous.  With the irritability that tended to come with her present state, Jasper wanted to bark at her to put something sensible on.  Why was she so _ lacy,  _ anyway?  Pearl’s clothes were sort of sporty in a pastel fluffy way and Lapis looked dreamy and floaty but casual too.  She had just noticed that for absolutely no functional reason Blue had thin white ribbons wrapped criss-cross around her thighs, the right tied in a trailing bow up by her hip and the left down near her knee.  How could any entity that was half Pearl handle that kind of pointless asymmetry?  Why did Blue have to wear a skirt that was open in the front so all you could see was legs and ribbons and leotard?

“Um, sorry if I’m interrupting,” she said.

“It’s all right,” Blue said, folding both sets of arms over her chest and her stomach awkwardly.  “You aren’t really interrupting anything except my ongoing, futile quest to relax, unwind and dissolve into my component parts.  I even tried drinking some wine.  Well, I say tried; I held it in my mouth for maybe ten seconds before I spat it back in the glass, so I didn’t really try very hard.”  She made a self-deprecating litlte face, poking out her tongue.

“Greg gave me a sip of beer once.  It was disgusting,” Jasper said, then kind of ran dry.   _ Stop looking at her legs.  I know, I know, the ribbons are really annoying.  Maybe they’re supposed to be annoying so you’ll want to pull them off?  Maybe I’m a pervert. _  “I might have an idea,” she tried again.  

“That would make one of us,” Blue said, sinking down to sit elegantly with her knees bent and her feet tucked away to one side.  She’d got into the habit of sitting down to talk to Jasper, to de-emphasise the height difference.  Jasper wasn’t sure whether she appreciated the consideration or slightly resented it being necessary.

“Well, do you remember Lapis enjoyed watching cartoons?”

Blue frowned.  “Not particularly, no.  I’ve never really had any reason to think about it.”

“Oh, really?  No, she di - she does, at least one show that Steven and Peridot got her into.  It makes her laugh, and I’ve never seen it, and I just thought maybe you’d like it too?  It’d be something to do, right?”

“I’m happy to try,” Blue said, a trace doubtfully.  “In your room?”

“You’d probably be really cramped in my room.”   _ On one hand being there with me might bring Lapis and Pearl back out.  On the other… I sort of don’t even  _ want _ Blue in my special place I share with Pearl.  And Lapis, if only for one night and a bit of a morning.  It mixes things up too much.   _ “There’s the TV in Steven’s room - which could be kind of cramped for you too, but I can just bring it downstairs and we can sit in the living room.  Peridot burned me a DVD of the first season.  She thought it’d be a good idea.”

“All right.”  Blue gave her a hopeful little smile.

Moving the TV and setting it up on the coffee table and shunting the coffee table a good viewing distance from the couch was something practical to do that made her feel not quite so helpless, at least.  Blue sat on the couch in a frothy puddle of lacy skirt and watched her, fidgeting with her fingers as if trying to make cat’s cradles with no string.

“Okay, so.  According to Peridot it starts out as very light silly fun but as it goes along it grows a lot of emotional depth and it’s really interesting to go back to the early episodes later and see how some things were foreshadowed, and she has eighteen different endgame theories.  According to Steven it’s funny and sweet and great and it has some really good songs and makes you think about growing up and love and destiny and stuff.  According to Lapis Lazuli it should actually be about two characters called Marceline and Bonnibel and most of the show is wasted by not being about them but the voices are funny and there are some decent fart jokes.  That, and she actually said something really kind to me once, telling me a story from the show to encourage me about something I was having trouble with, so… I don’t know, I guess it has a kind of sentimental value for me even if I’ve never seen it before.”  Jasper hesitated, wondering how much of this was an overshare and how much might actually encourage Lapis to come back to her.  “That was… I think of that as sort of the first gift Lapis gave me.  Anyway.”  She sat down on the floor in front of the couch, remembered she hadn’t put the DVD in the player yet, got up to put it in and sat back down again, feeling mildly frazzled.

“Don’t you want to sit up here with me?” Blue asked, patting the seat cushion beside her.

“Oh - thanks, but I never sit there.  It’s just not comfortable, the seat’s too shallow and I feel like I’m on the edge of it.”

“I’m bigger than you are, though, and I’m comfortable.”

“No, you’re  _ taller _ than me.  Apart from that you’re a wisp.  I like sitting on the floor, it’s okay.  Let’s watch this thing.”

It seemed to be a likeable, silly, strange little show.  She wasn’t surprised that  _ she  _ liked it; she was a little surprised at how Blue reacted.  It would definitely not have been Pearl’s cup of tea (and there was a little part of Jasper, the part that couldn’t help mentally criticising lightsaber fights as implausible and excessively twirly, that knew what she meant) and despite being known to like this series Lapis tended to play her enjoyment cool.  Blue, on the other hand, was openly, almost childishly delighted.  She laughed, she clapped her hands, she kept nudging Jasper in the shoulder to make sure she’d noticed clever parts, she asked to rewind scenes so she could enjoy the animation more on a second pass.  That was just the first episode.  She was so overcome with appreciation of the closing line “Don’t squeeze me, I’ll fart!” that she slipped off the couch, landed with a bump and her legs splayed out like a collapsed giraffe, and still couldn’t stop giggling.  

“You think you can handle another one?” Jasper asked, trying not to laugh  _ at _ her but grinning pretty broadly.  “I’m gonna feel responsible if you burst a valve having too much fun.”

“Are you sure that’s not your plan?  Make me laugh till I poof, like a scared candy person?  Hit me!  I can handle another.”

It was a miserably grey, rainy, windy day outside, the gusts slapping the rain against the walls and sometimes rattling the windows, so it was perfect weather for escaping into a cartoon candy kingdom.  The short little episodes rolled by quickly, although they watched some of them twice in a row so Blue could get all the juice out of them.  

“The way they  _ talk _ is so quaint and quirky,” she exclaimed.  “I love it.  It shouldn’t be possible to say a sentence like ‘slam a cow, that fool looks rumped’ and have the meaning be perfectly transparent, but there it is!”

“To be fair, the Jiggler really did look rumped.  You look… I don’t know, fluffed or something.”  Blue was always shimmery and iridescent but when she laughed like this she sparkled.  She had given up on sitting on the couch and stayed on the floor beside Jasper, leaning heavily against her shoulder when she was overcome with mirth.  For someone who looked so insubstantial, she had a surprising weight to her.

“Do you have a favourite princess yet?” Blue asked archly, nudging her.

“Obviously Bubblegum.  All the others are joke princesses - I mean, cute jokes, but she’s the only one actually princessing.”  

“Next one, next one!”

As the theme song played Jasper took a sidelong glance at Blue.  She had to admit, if only to herself, she’d really hoped that this would bring some Lapis memories leaking through, that Blue would know what was going to happen in the next episode or remember things about the characters that hadn’t been shown yet.  Nothing.  Still, it was sweet and endearing to see her clearly discovering everything for the first time.  She herself was watching Blue as much as if not more than she was watching the TV.

“Do you know what?” Blue said abruptly two episodes later.  “You should sit in my lap.”

“What?  No.  Why?  I don’t sit in laps, I provide a lap to sit in.  I’ve got a really good lap, it gets rave reviews from all ages.”

“I know.  I remember that much from both of them.  What I mean is, I’d like to give  _ you  _ something that normally you give to other people but other people  _ can’t _ give to you.  Wouldn’t that be nice?  Even if I’m a wisp and not a majestic side of beef like you?”

“I… still don’t know.  I feel weird about it.  Give me a while to think it over.”   _ Majestic side of beef? _

She didn’t think about it very well, because the next episode was called “My Two Favourite People” and that made her feel a bit strange and sad to begin with.  Although the relationships between Jake, Finn and Lady Rainicorn were quite different from hers with Pearl and Lapis, she could relate to how complicated it was for Jake to work out how to have time with both of them and yet not feel left out when they got closer to each other.  And here she was with her two favourite people joined into one person, which would seem convenient except for how much she needed each of them separately.  At least Blue didn’t have a weird old man voice and there was absolutely no equivalent of Tiffany.

“Let’s take a break,” she said when that one ended.  “If you marathon too many in a row you don’t appreciate each one as much, and you get square eyes.”

“One more!”  Blue bargained.  “Come on, pleeeease.  I haven’t had such a good time in ages.”

“A few days, tops.”

“That  _ is _ ages from my point of view.  I usually exist for a few hours at a time, at the most.  Existing full-time has its rewards but it can be tiring.”

“Okay, you have a point.”

“Pretty please?”  Blue clasped her hands under her chin and contrived to make her big blue eyes huge.

“I’m already folding, you don’t need to hit me with the anime eyes!”

They watched  _ eight _ more episodes, because they were short, Blue was persuasive and Jasper was, when all was said and done, a sucker.  She caved on the lap thing during “Wizard,” sitting gingerly in the nest of Blue’s crossed legs.  If Jasper leaned back against her chest, Blue could put her chin on top of her head; she rested it there (it fortunately was not as sharp as Lapis’ chin) and wrapped her lower arms across Jasper’s waist and somehow  _ emanated  _ contentment.  

“Do you like it after all?” she asked, after giving Jasper an episode to acclimatise.  “Do you feel all little and precious?”

“Little and precious?” Jasper repeated, startled.  She remembered Pearl saying that on that last morning, and Blue didn’t remember that, did she?

“All the memories I get from Pearl about you holding her - this came up in a dancing context, obviously - have ‘I feel all little and precious’ sort of embroidered all over them.”

“Oh, right.  Nice.  I don’t ever feel little, but I feel pretty cosy, I guess.”

“This would probably be an all-time first for you, wouldn’t it?”

“What, getting a hug from someone bigger than me?  No.  Not for a long time, obviously, but my first unit, when they put me with a bunch of old-model Jaspers to get broken in, I got hugged and held and passed round all the time.”

“I didn’t realise they were bigger than you.”

“Yeah, of course.  Well, not  _ of course. _  Okay, so the original Jasper line was very big, very powerful, but not all that resilient.  Slightly below average in terms of how easily they poofed.  They could do amazing damage but couldn’t take as many hits as they really needed to for staying power.  So whoever does these things moved some numbers around and they sacrificed a little in terms of size and… I don’t know, gave us more padding, made us bouncier?  The end result is I can take a hell of a lot of punishment before I fall over and I spent the first few years of my life being told how cute I was and getting my ass felt by big hot slightly craggy ladies.”

“Did you mind?”

“Mind?  It was great.  Look, the ass-feeling didn’t get started till I made it very clear I was up for it.  Early on they were all over each other in our downtime and I was sort of… with them but not  _ with _ them, watching and getting all flustered and…”   _ And touching myself, but do I tell  _ you _ that?  Pearl knows that and I kind of want to tell Lapis that, but you… _  “Anyway let’s watch the next one.”

“I feel like there was more to that story,” Blue said, but let it go.  Jasper was grateful for that much.  It had been a  _ huge _ mistake to think about that here and now.  She was remembering Red, called Red because she was so scarred all over that she almost  _ was  _ red, so tall and broad and thick with muscle, holding her in her lap and purring in her ear about how lucky they were to get such a hot little rookie while her fingers ground into Jasper’s pussy and made her shake and whimper with desire.  Red had been the first person after herself to make her come and the first person she’d wanted more than anyone else and the first reason she’d become ashamed of her own feelings.  She’d taken such care not to think about her after they’d parted ways, not to think about the fact that she must be long dead.  Her shards could be part of the Cluster, or she could be corrupted and bubbled downstairs; Jasper could have walked past her any number of times with no way to know it was her. Or her remains could be on another world far away, or drifting in space; you definitely didn’t see old-model Jaspers around any more so there was no real reason to hope that somewhere out there was the same old Red, full of life and happiest using her fists, whether it was for fighting or for fucking.

_ This is stupid and pointless and excessive and I just want to shut it all off and enjoy a cartoon.  I’ve missed half of whatever the hell this one is supposed to be about.  Oh shit, they just called that grey thing Marceline, I’m completely blanking on the introduction of Lapis’ favourite character, I’m meant to be doing this for her and Pearl and the future I want with them, not being all hung up on the past and someone I  _ know  _ I can’t see again. _

Fortunately Blue liked the episode so much that she asked for an immediate replay.  By that time Jasper had got her memories and inconvenient sad/horny feelings sufficiently tamped down to appreciate the atmosphere of the treehouse at night and to enjoy how when Finn was all done up in his sleeping bag he looked like a little sausage.  The shot where Marceline snapped her fingers and every candle in the room lit up was actually beautiful.  She wasn’t crazy about Marceline saying she ate the colour red just at the moment but otherwise, otherwise she was enjoying herself.  She settled into it.

_ “That _ was a weird ending with the worms,” she muttered when it was over.

“I know!” Blue exclaimed.  “And do you think vampires get to cheat on fusion?  I mean, she didn’t  _ need _ to fuse but she got so much bigger to fight Finn!  Shapeshifting doesn’t work like that in real life.”

“So that’s Lapis’ favourite character.  I didn’t even realise she was the thing that goes hiss at you from under the bridge in the opening - although I was  _ wondering _ what that was about.”  She wanted to think about  _ why _ Lapis liked Marceline best, if you could even tell from just the first episode she showed up in, but she was pretty sure that whatever reasons she came up with would be different from what Lapis really thought.  And if she asked her, would she get a straight answer?  Maybe not, but it would be an interesting talk to have.  It was so easy now to picture having that conversation, curled up in bed, and Pearl there too - would she have opinions to share or would she just be  _ there,  _ reading her book or snuggled between them listening?  Did Pearl  _ have _ any opinion of vampires?  Suddenly it seemed so crushing that she might not be able to find out.  

She was subdued as the episodes rolled on, still enjoying them but trending downhill towards moping, and then a title card came up saying “Ocean of Fear” and that woke her right up.   _ Don’t expect too much,  _ she advised herself.  It had an okay start - Finn happily shouting “Bark, bark bark!” as he chased the newt was pretty adorable.  She got the impression Lapis didn’t have much time for him, as the nominal hero, but she quite liked him.  She found herself watching with her knees drawn up and one hand on her face, kind of masking her mouth.  The strange thing was that she could feel Blue tensing up, and she was worried it was because  _ she _ was tensing up, but she couldn’t really  _ not _ tense up.  

When Finn panicked and sank the submarine into the abyss, she could feel Blue actually begin trembling.  That was really weird, and it occurred to her for the first time that Blue might have her own reason for being uncomfortable with this deep-ocean stuff, even if she couldn’t think what it could be.  She pressed pause and twisted around, trying to see her face.  “Hey, is something wrong?  Are you okay?”  

“That’s just like what I did,” Blue said in a small voice.  “A useless coward who only makes trouble panicking.”

“Oh, come  _ on! _  Please don’t - look, you’re making up your mind about this too soon.  Just hold on and see how it turns out.”

“I  _ know _ how it’ll turn out.  Obviously he’ll overcome his fear, this is just a trial on a hero’s journey, like the fairies and the old ladies, I’m not  _ stupid. _  I said that’s like what I  _ did.   _ Finn isn’t like  _ me.”   _ Tears were welling up in her eyes and her pretty mouth was pulled down woefully.  “I’m so sorry, Jasper.  It’s because I’m like this that I can’t get Pearl and Lapis back to you.  I shouldn’t even be here, I shouldn’t  _ exist _ when it’s keeping you apart, and it’s all because I’m such a  _ coward.” _

“Oh, come on, no no no, please.”  Jasper scrambled round to get up on her knees and hugged Blue around her shoulders.  She didn’t know what she was supposed to say but at least she was good at hugging people.  “Hey, you know who was a coward to begin with?  Sailor Moon.  She fell on her ass and cried a lot and didn’t want to fight at all.”

“But then she  _ did,  _ didn’t she?” Blue demanded, sniffing hard.  “She did.”

“Of course she did, and she saved the world.  Repeatedly.”

“And I’m - not -  _ going to!”   _ Blue pushed her back, scrubbing hard at her eyes.  “I don’t want to fight.  I never want to fight.  I can’t think of anything I’d hate more.  It’s better if I’m gone because there’s no way I can be any good to you, and Pearl and Lapis are brave and wonderful and you  _ love _ them.”

_ I wish you’d say things that are easier to argue with. _  “I love them and I want them back but you’re important too.  I hate seeing you so upset.”  She tried to get Blue’s hands away from her face, because she looked like she was about to rub her eyelids off, without hurting her dainty wrists.  She was  _ really _ strong, though, and Jasper realised she would have to pull a lot harder than she’d thought, and being that rough with Blue was going to make her feel like too much of an asshole.  She let go and tried the hug again.  Blue sank into it, dropping her head on Jasper’s shoulder, and she rubbed her back, circling her hand between her shoulderblades.  “Hey, can I tell you something?”

“What?” Blue mumbled into her hair.

“Lapis told me the end of this one already.  He  _ doesn’t _ overcome his fear.  He has to live with it.  He’s still a hero.”

“You’re so kind to me.”  Blue sniffed hard.  “I don’t think you quite get it.  I don’t want to be a hero, I don’t want to be brave, I don’t want to fight.  I don’t want that to be my life at all.  Everyone here is a warrior!  I mean, obviously.  You’re all survivors of a war - or Amethyst and Steven, who were raised by the survivors to be warriors too.  Or Peridot.  But she’s decided she wants to fight too, if only to impress her girlfriend, I suppose.  And I know you can’t call Lapis a  _ warrior _ but she’s  _ lethal.  But this isn’t normal.   _ It’s not!  And you know it really, don’t you?  On Homeworld there are scholars and artists and scientists and - and architects and things, Gems whose lives aren’t all bent towards war!”

“Well… yeah, but they couldn’t exist without us,” Jasper said, surprised.  Then she winced, hearing herself.  Sensitive as always.  “That’s what I was always told.  The only reason art and science and all the rest of it could grow was because stronger Gems like us were there to protect the artists and intellectuals.”

“But we do  _ exist. _  We are  _ real.   _ We’re worth something.”

“I’m not saying you’re not.  You’re worth protecting.  Otherwise badasses like me wouldn’t have the job of protecting you, right?”

“That’s circular reasoning,” Blue said, with a weak laugh.  “But I’ll take it.  It feels a little better when I hear you say it.”  She straightened up and wiped her eyes again, more gently.

“So if you think that why do you get all down on yourself and call yourself a coward?”

“Because there’s a big difference between making a principled choice not to fight, and trying to do it despite your reservations because you don’t want to disappoint someone and then panicking and being too terrified to do anything except try to hide.  And disappointing her horribly as a result.  And,” she added with a sound in between another laugh and the beginning of a sob, “I’m predisposed, I mean, Pearl and Lapis can’t stand themselves half the time, it’s just for different reasons.  Pearl feels weird and inadequate and unlovable, Lapis basically thinks she’s evil…  I shouldn’t have told you that.  It’s their business.  Please try and forget about it.”

“I pretty much knew that anyway, so don’t worry.  You can just stop there, no harm done.”

“I didn’t feel like this before,” Blue sighed.  “I loved every minute I was around.  I existed for love and art.  I knew about their unhappiness but by making me, they were happier and the thought that I was happiness for them made  _ me _ happy.  It’s a lot to get used to.”

“Shit.  I’m sorry, I’m  _ really _ sorry.”  Jasper felt that cold plunge in her belly again, followed by a hot weight of shame.  She really wanted to sit down and better still, scoot herself away, but she stayed where she was, kneeling with her hands on Blue’s shoulders, trying to give her that much support and comfort.

“What for?”

“For the things I said when I yelled at you.  I’m the one who called you a coward, I’m the one who’s messed you up.”   _ Even if it was true it was mean to say it like that.  Like yelling at someone with no legs for not being able to walk. _

“You only said what I was already thinking.  You didn’t introduce me to the idea - I was already thoroughly ashamed of myself, believe me.  Besides, isn’t this just how life goes, if you keep living?  Sooner or later you’ll have a bad experience.  Sooner or later you’ll face a challenge and fail.  I could be a lot more philosophical about it if I weren’t constantly aware of how much my ongoing failure is hurting the people around me.  Jasper, please, I’ll keep trying my best and I know you don’t want to, but if it gets to a week and I haven’t been able to undo whatever I’ve done to myself, you have to poof me.  Or someone else can if you would be too upset, I’d understand.  Can we agree on that?”

“It would be  _ really _ hard to do that to someone who wasn’t trying to fight me.  Even if you were asking me to.  I mean, what if I couldn’t get you with the first punch?  It’d be hard enough to make myself do  _ that _ and then… it’s just completely different and I’d feel horrible.  I’d feel like a monster.”

“That’s one difference between you and me, I suppose.  I would feel like a monster hurting someone no matter what.  I’m not calling you a monster!  People like me  _ do _ need people like you to protect us sometimes.  So that’s okay.  We’ll ask Garnet to do it - or Tourmaline or someone bigger.”

“No, because… I feel like only I  _ should _ do it?  Like in a really warped way it’s taking care of you and I want to be the one to do that.  If I even can.  I don’t have a great record of fighting fusions and you’re much stronger than you look.  Ugh, this is just going to turn into me whaling on you and getting nowhere.  I guess it does need to be someone else.”

“You could fuse with someone else to be able to do it, of course.  You and Amethyst together would be incredibly strong.”

“You’re probably right.”  She did sink down now, half-turning to lean back in the crook of Blue’s knee.  “Looks like yet another necessity fusion before I ever get my shit together to fuse with Pearl.”

“It’s not fair,” Blue said, stroking her hair.  “But it does bring you closer to being able to do that, if you get Pearl  _ back,  _ and it’s not as if being more experienced will make fusing with her  _ harder.” _

“I should be comforting  _ you,  _ not the other way.”

“It can be mutual.”  Blue put her arm around Jasper’s shoulders and rested her cheek on top of her head.  “Anyway, can we agree on that?  When it gets to a week, if I haven’t been able to sort myself out, you and/or a helper will poof me.”  She solemnly offered Jasper one of her pinky fingers.

Jasper sighed.  “Very reluctantly, I agree.”  She hooked her own pinky around Blue’s.  “I normally spit-swear, so is this legally binding?”

“Nothing is more binding than a pinky promise, you must know  _ that.” _

“I guess.”  She looked at their joined hands, her own familiar and capable and looking too small next to Blue’s, slim and pale with long fingers and nails like shiny glass.  She felt like something had and hadn’t been settled, like she’d taken a step but was still up in the air.  “Do you feel better?”

“All better, no, but better than I did before, definitely.”  Blue gave her a small smile.

“You want to keep watching this show?  Or we could skip to the next episode.”

“Let’s see it through.  This is the episode Lapis thought would encourage you, right?  You should get to see it all.”

“Well, what really encouraged me was her talking to me about it.  But yeah, let’s finish what we started.”

They watched it until the end, then the one after it to wind down.  Blue kept stroking Jasper’s hair, almost absent-mindedly, as if her hand had gone on automatic.  Jasper leaned back against her chest, feeling emotionally rather pummelled but physically very soothed.  The rain outside was still pouring down.  She wondered what the others were doing; she was fairly sure Garnet had taken Amethyst and Peridot with her on monster patrol and Steven was out with Connie, hopefully keeping dry.  Later on she would need to go and walk Sansa and Arya; they would whine about the rain but would cheer up once they got to run.  Dog walking was really the only reason she had gone out since it had happened; it seemed like she needed to stay close to Blue just in case of… anything, she guessed.  

She glanced up at Blue, trying to read her expression.  She wasn’t laughing the way she had been, but she seemed calm and she was smiling at the funny parts.  Without really thinking about it, Jasper reached up to touch her face; to stroke her cheek.  Blue closed her eyes, leaning into Jasper’s palm.  “Thank you,” she said quietly.

“What for?”

“Gratuitous kindness,” she said, smiling sweetly.  “Bearing with me.  Watching cartoons for hours in the hope that it’ll help me relax.  I’ve enjoyed it, but I don’t think it’s the answer.”

“It was worth a try.”  The closing theme was playing now, and she hadn’t really noticed what this one was about, other than the Ice King being a big weirdo.  She stopped the DVD.  “We’ll figure something out.”

“I suppose it’s back to hot baths.  Maybe they need to be hotter.  Maybe I can  _ boil _ myself down.”

“I know Pearl doesn’t like it, but have you tried sleeping?  That’s about as relaxed as it gets.”

“I hadn’t really thought of that.  I don’t have a place  _ to _ sleep unless I nodded off in the pool.  There’s a hammock kind of thing but that’s only big enough for Pearl and Lapis, separately, together.  I don’t fit on it.  I suppose I could make myself a nest.”

“You’d look like a swan then.  I mean more than usual.  I mean obviously your neck isn’t  _ that _ long.  I mean -”

“The difficulty is that I don’t really know how  _ to _ sleep.  I vaguely know that they’ve both done it at some point but not how.”

“I could help you.  I’m a pretty competent sleeper,” Jasper said, grateful to get off the swan tangent she had got herself onto.

“Do you mean in your bed?” Blue asked doubtfully.

“No, I - I still think you’d be cramped in my room.”  The truth was that she hadn’t changed the sheets because she didn’t want to lose the smell of Pearl and Lapis that lingered on them, which sounded romantic or sentimental in theory, but she was a little afraid it would come off as squalid in reality.  “But you can sleep anywhere, it’s easy.  We just need - okay, hold on.”  She climbed out of Blue’s lap and stretched her back.  “Basic nesting.  You need something soft to lie on.  Steven won’t mind if we borrow his quilt.”  She went upstairs and grabbed it, brought it down and spread it out on the floor.  “Okay, it’s a little small but it’s better than nothing.  Grab that seat cushion, that’ll be our pillow.  And this is optional but you might like it.”  She went to the linen closet and pulled down the spare blanket from the top shelf.

“I know we lie down,” Blue said.  She did so carefully, on her back, with her arms straight down at her sides.  Most of the length of her legs extended beyond the quilt, but at least her narrow build meant there was plenty of space left beside her for Jasper.  She lay down on her side and pulled the blanket over them, although again, it only really covered their midsections.  

“You can push this off if you get too warm,” she explained.  “It just feels cosier.  Are you comfortable?  You can move around if you want to find a better way to lie.”

“Is on my back… correct?” Blue asked.  “People sleep on their backs, don’t they?”

“Yeah, of course.  I tend to wake up on mine, but I like to go to sleep on my side.  Like this, see?  Knees bent up a little, I tuck my one hand under the pillow and get the angle just right.  I’m… usually holding Pearl, too.  She’s my little spoon.  But this is easy.  Now you just close your eyes, and you let your body go soft, and you kind of let your mind go soft too.”  She closed her eyes; she was beginning to feel embarrassed with Blue watching her so carefully, as if taking notes on her form.  A down quilt on a hardwood floor didn’t really give enough padding for her hip and shoulder, but she could live with it.  

“Can you explain… go soft?  For your mind?”

“Don’t think too hard about anything.  Or think about things that are really calm and quiet.  Breathe slow.”

“When you tell me to think of calm, quiet things, it’s like when someone tells you to say something and you can only say ‘something.’  But the reverse, because suddenly I’m thinking of every complex, frenetic thing I’ve ever seen or heard of.”

“Well, maybe thinking about those’ll tire you out.”  

“While I lie here doing nothing?”

“The doing nothing is important.  Or if you want to get tired we can go out.  I’ve got dogs to walk and they won’t care if I’m early.”

“In the rain?  No thanks.”

“You suddenly mind water when it falls from the sky?”

“I never promised to be consistent.”

Jasper felt something touch her face, Blue brushing her cheek lightly with the backs of her fingers.  “There’s no petting in napping.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“Sometimes maybe.”  She reached up and took Blue’s hand, lifting it from her cheek to rest on the quilt between them.  “But not now.  Shh, sleepy time.  Lapis is a champ at going to sleep, you should be too.”

“I only know about her sleeping once on your lap.”

“There’s been more than that now.”  Reluctantly, Jasper opened her eyes, still holding Blue’s hand.  “You know, I’ve never really thought about how much Malachite remembers about my life and Lapis’.  Everything was so fucked up the first time, she didn’t really have a mind of her own.  Then the second time we formed her it was an emergency and it was over pretty fast because neither of us could take it for long, but I do remember how happy she was just not to be a trap any more.  Lapis and I both had pretty lousy intentions.  We probably owe it to her to give her some more time and let her explore or play or whatever she really wants to do.”

“All the more reason for me to get my act together, or rather apart.”  Blue smiled at her.  “I’d love to help a fellow fusion be happier.  And  _ that _ is one of the funny things about being a fusion, knowing there are these other people with whom you have a really intimate connection, because you share this intrinsic component of a person, but by your nature and theirs you can never actually know them.  I’ll never meet the original Opal  _ or _ Malachite.”

“Well, not face to face.”  Jasper thought about it a moment.  “You could leave each other messages.  Like, be pen pals.”

Blue’s eyes and mouth widened together and then she beamed.  “That is  _ such _ a cute idea!  I have to do it!  I’ll write messages for Opal and Malachite and Sardonyx for them to read next time they’re together and maybe they’ll write back!  And for whoever  _ you _ make with Pearl, too!  Oh, this is exciting!  I was all wistful about it and I never  _ thought _ of such a simple way around the obstacle.  You’re  _ wonderful,  _ Jasper.”

“Oh, I have my moments.  I think you’re being a little generous about this one.”

“No, but you are, in so many ways.  I -”  The glow in her face suddenly dimmed.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, no.”

“If you just realised I’m not really that wonderful after all it’s okay.  I can handle it as long as you don’t rub it in.”

“No, Jasper, I…”  Blue looked both crestfallen and guilty.  “I just thought of how happy I was that even if being stuck like this is so difficult, it means I get to have time with you and to be close to you.  I love Pearl and Lapis’ memories and thoughts of you so much, and I was always just a bit envious.  What if  _ that’s _ what it’s really about?  What if I’m just being selfish and trying to keep you to myself?”

“Well… if you were, wouldn’t realising that undo it?  Like breaking a spell?”

“But what if it’s not like that?  What if I realise it but can’t do anything about it?  It’s so  _ difficult _ to change anything about yourself.  What if the selfishness is just my nature?”

“Or,” Jasper said, cupping her free hand at the back of Blue’s head, trying to steady her, “what if you’re thinking the worst of yourself because  _ that’s _ in your nature on both sides?  What if you’re being way too hard on yourself?  Just a minute ago you were so happy about your pen pal plan, and I love seeing you like that.  When you light up about something it’s beautiful.   _ I’m _ glad I get to have time with you and get closer to you, or I wouldn’t have known about that.  This situation sucks because you’re stuck and we don’t know what to do, but once you can go back and forth again, you know I’ll want to keep seeing you, right?”

Blue looked tearful and uncertain, but a little bit of light was coming back.  “Is that really true?  I know you’re putting up with me, but you’re not  _ just _ putting up with me?”

“I’m hardly putting up with you at all.  Come here, you dummy.”  Jasper rolled Blue’s body towards her and hugged her.  “I think you’re wonderful too.”

She was taken by surprise when Blue kissed her, and perhaps the surprise partially excused not doing anything about it right away. There was really no excuse for starting to kiss back before she caught herself.  She pulled her head back sharply.  “Whoops!  No.”  

“No?” Blue said, dismayed.  “I’m sorry, I completely misunderstood.”

“Not just you.  Sorry.  Uh.  We’d really better not.  I can’t ask Pearl and Lapis if it’s okay, and I’ve got a feeling it’s not.”

“So by ‘keep seeing you’ you didn’t mean anything romantic?”

“I, uh, I wasn’t exactly thinking - I mean - jeez, Blue, I’ve got my hands full with  _ two _ girlfriends, I don’t know if I’ve got the  _ stamina _ for three.”  If possible, Blue’s face fell further.  “No, no, that came out wrong.  I was trying to lighten us up with a joke, it just sucked.  Pretend I never said it.”   _ Why am I still holding her?  How do I let go without hurting her feelings more?  I’m actually not positive I’ve got clearance to call Lapis my girlfriend anyway.   _ A helpful thought occurred.  “Either way it would be really gross of us to make out on Steven’s quilt.”

“Fudge!  You’re right.” Blue tried to bolt upright, but some trailing edge of her clothing was pinned under Jasper’s elbow and it yanked her straight back down.

“Did you say  _ fudge?”  _ Jasper asked, startled.  At least it was easier now to pull her arms back and lift her elbow.  “And what even is this?” She picked up the wisp of lace between thumb and forefinger..

“It’s a capelet,” Blue said ruefully, sitting up and rubbing the side of her neck where its ribbon tie had dug in.  She untied it and crumpled it in her hands, leaving her shoulders bare.

“I can’t criticise.”  Jasper sat up too, drawing up her knees and propping her folded arms on them.  “I still think capes are cool.”

“This one was a mistake.  I have to admit, when I reform I try to make the most of the aesthetic opportunity, but I also think ‘I hope Jasper thinks this looks pretty.’”

“Oh - don’t worry, it does.”

“You think the leg ribbons are weird, though, don’t you?  I noticed you frowning at them.”   Blue pushed the blanket back from her legs and looked at them critically.

“Shit, I didn’t realise it was that obvious.  That was at least sixty percent staring at your legs, though.”

“Oh, I know, they’re ridiculous.”  Blue pulled one bow loose peevishly.  

“If you’re just going to sit there taking your clothes off I might have to cover my eyes or something.”

Blue paused in winding the ribbon around her hand and laughed weakly, shaking her head.  “This is  _ not  _ me trying to be seductive.  This is me picking myself apart.”

“Yeah, I know.  I mean, I’ve  _ seen _ you trying to be seductive.  There’s a lot of twirling and tossing your hair around and getting aggressively dipped by a big water - lady.”

“I think we can just acknowledge it was meant to be you.  Subtle I am not.  And when  _ you’re _ trying to be seductive you do the good ol’ smouldering gaze.  Really I should have known; the way you looked at me just now was very  _ warm _ but there was no smoulder.”  She twisted the loose end of the other ribbon around her forefinger. 

“Or when Pearl’s trying to be seductive she goes all coy and sly and fluttery and flattery,” Jasper suggested, trying to lead Blue away from criticising herself.  “And Lapis… I don’t know if just jumping on me counts as seduction but it got the job done.  What’s that look about?”

“I didn’t realise the job had  _ been  _ done yet.  Not by you and Lapis.”

“Didn’t you?” 

“Nobody tells me anything!” Blue exclaimed, raising her hands.  “I don’t form and scan for updates on all developments in their sex lives.  Although clearly I  _ should.” _

“Yeah, but wasn’t that last bit you got from Lapis a tip-off?  Imagining me in frilly undies?”

“The thing you need to remember about Lapis Lazuli is, she’s a pervert.  Her fantasising about you is nothing new.”

“Oh.”   _ But how old is it? _

“The frilliness was different, but otherwise - no, actually, there  _ was _ something else different.  She was imagining details of your body that she hadn’t before.  Because she hadn’t  _ seen _ them before.  All those new stripes should have tipped me off - and they match up to Pearl’s memories pretty closely, and her memories are always  _ very _ thorough and detailed.”

“Because she’s a pervert too?”

“Well, you know her best.  All right, pervert’s a bit harsh.”  She laughed again and shook her head.  “I’m in no position to criticise, am I, with my blatantly come-hither dancing.” 

“At least I know I’m not getting seduced as long as you’re sitting still, right?”

“What makes you think that?  Hold on, this could be the provocation they need.  Pearl, Lapis Lazuli, get out here right now or I’m going to seduce Jasper.  No?  Right.”  Before Jasper could say anything to that, Blue’s whole posture changed.  Before she had been scrunching herself down slightly, shoulders a little rounded and head forward. She straightened up and suddenly showed her full, regal height, and flowing from the same movement, shifted onto her hip in a way that made it impossible to look away from her legs - except that then she was leaning in, looming over Jasper, gazing at her from under feathery white lashes, and she smelled like freesias and Jasper had never quite realised how much of a disadvantage she was at next to someone with four arms.  Blue was leaning on one of her arms and still had three hands free, one of them stroking Jasper’s arm, one brushing through her hair and tracing along the line of her jaw, and one still apparently just toying with the ribbon laced around her own thigh.  “What do you say?” Blue murmured.

“I - I didn’t know you could just put it on like that,” Jasper stammered.  The effect was nothing if not overpowering.

“Well, I don’t think of it as putting something on.  That makes it sound  _ fake. _  If I’m exposing my real feelings, isn’t it more like taking something… off?”  She pulled at the end of the ribbon, unravelling it and drawing it up smoothly from between her legs.  Jasper stared, her eyes flicking from the ribbon (well, to the smooth white silk of the leotard covering Blue’s mound, creased by the ribbon pulling tight against it) to Blue’s face (well, to her parted lips and the tip of her tongue skimming their inner curves), pinned between fascination and desire and rising apprehension.  Blue’s fingertips under her chin nudged very slightly up, she glanced up reflexively, and as their eyes met Blue dropped her a heavy wink.

“You’re just fucking with me!”  She felt a wash of relief and began to laugh.  “You asshole!”

Blue leaned back and began laughing too, a kind of musical cackle, if that were possible.  “You’re so  _ easy! _  I was starting to think I’d have to follow through!”  Her laughter was a little too bright and brittle, but she seemed to feel better.  “Don’t worry, you’re safe.  Such seductive power as I possess will be used for good, not evil.  Although really, I wonder if that ticked them off?”  She sighed and sagged a little.  “I used to know how they felt, at least.  It’s… not  _ empty  _ being me alone, but it’s… draughty.”

“It’s not going to be forever.”  Jasper got to her feet, bent and kissed the top of Blue’s head.  “If nothing else, because I’m going to have to clean your clock at the end of the week.  I need to get moving.  Dogs wait for no Gem, and things like that.”  She didn’t really need to go this early and she thought Blue knew it too, but she urgently wanted a break.  She was still smelling freesias and when she closed her eyes she saw white ribbons sliding against ice-blue skin.  It wasn’t that she thought she was going to do anything rash, or really that Blue was either, but it was a strain being close to her when they’d got themselves so worked up.  

“It’s still raining buckets,” Blue said doubtfully.  

“Well, if I catch a cold it’ll be a world first.  See you.”  She hurried out and regretted it as soon as the first windblown curtain of rain slapped her in the face.   _ Cold showers are good for horny idiots, Jasper.  Well, Blue needs one too then. _  She made her way down the stairs and across the soggy beach, trudging into town.

Today she just had Olivia to walk before she picked up Sansa and Arya, but Olivia whined and braced her legs and utterly refused to leave the Parks’ back porch.  “I tried,” Jasper said, pointing an accusatory finger at her, which Olivia sniffed in case it might have peanut butter on it.  “I walked here in the rain and I  _ tried, _ damn it.”  She sat down on the porch steps and squeezed some water out of her hair.  “You know, some days I think you’re lucky they had you fixed.  I’ve got to figure out some way I can take care of her like she needs without it getting weird.  I have such unbelievably horrible problems these days, you know.  Foxy babes coming onto me.  I suffer.”  Olivia shoved her head under Jasper’s hand to remind her that petting was supposed to take place at every meeting.  “Sorry, so rude of me.  I just wish I knew they were okay.”

She went on to the next place.  Arya and Sansa had dapper little tartan raincoats she had to buckle them into.  She didn’t see much point in them but they were good entertainment because the dogs always got very impressed with how cute they looked and pranced around looking over their shoulders for reactions.  After their run on the beach she brought them home and had to spend a while longer brushing clumpy wet sand out of their leg and tummy fur before leaving them in their shelter and walking sluggishly home.  She was so  _ very _ tired of the rain trickling through her hair and over her face.  Maybe she needed some yellow wet-weather gear like Vidalia’s strange little husband.  That reminded her that she was near Vidalia’s house, and she walked by hopefully but found the place in darkness.  It wasn’t even evening yet but all the houses with people home had their lights on.  She stood there with rain dripping off the end of her nose and provisionally admitted to herself only that she was staying out, in the rain, because she didn’t want to go home and deal with Blue, or with the lack of Pearl.  She missed Lapis too but Pearl  _ was _ home now.  It was ridiculous to keep trudging around like this, though, and people would worry about her if she was gone too long.

Every light was on at home; Steven had come back, bringing Connie with him, and they were sprawling on the couch watching  _ Samurai Jack _ and idly debating whether you could really run like that in wooden geta.  Blue was sitting with them, though not really paying attention because she had apparently decided to channel some of her abundant fidgeting energy into knitting a scarf.  She dropped it when Jasper came in, streaming with rain, and ran off to drag every towel out of the linen cupboard before running back to pile them onto her.

“You really don’t need to do that,” Jasper protested, trying to find her way out from under four layers of terry.

“Pearl would be upset if I didn’t.  Hold still.”  Three or four hands were trying to rub her hair dry.

“No, I really mean you don’t need to do that.”  She dragged the already sodden towels off her face.  “Because you have Lapis’ water powers, don’t you?  I was going to ask you if you could de-soak me before you threw all this at me.”

“Oh.  Whoops.”  Blue drooped.  “I suppose that’s what I get.  I just thought, oh, she’ll be cold and wet and tired when she gets home, I’ll try to take care of her the way Pearl would.  I didn’t really think of taking care of you the way Lapis would.”

“That’s okay, there isn’t a lot of precedent for Lapis taking care of me.  But can you do the thing?  I’m making puddles.”

“I’ll open the bathroom door,” Steven said, hopping down from the couch.

“Thank you - well, hydrokinesis, hocus pocus,” Blue said.  She wound her hands around each other in the air as if reeling something in, and Jasper felt the water peeling away from her, leaving her feeling strangely prickly.  It formed streamers and blobs in the air, wobbling along like soap bubbles, and Blue waved them through to drain via the bath.

“Hey, it’s nearly filling up!” Steven reported from the inner sanctum, echoing a bit.

“My hair holds a lot of water,” Jasper said, scruffing her hands through it in an effort to get rid of that prickly sensation.  “Did you put the plug in just to see how much there’d be?”

“Yeah, it’s science.”  A loud gurgle indicated that he’d taken it out, and he reappeared.  “Science says, you had a bath’s worth on you.  Who wants hot cocoa?”

“Oh, me!” Connie called out from the couch.

“I’ll pass,” said Blue, gathering up fallen towels.

“Will you put chili pepper in mine?” Jasper asked, dumping herself on the floor in the corner of the couch and lightly high-fiving the sole of Connie’s foot hello.

“Yes yes, all authentic and Mesoamerican,” he promised, digging out pans.

“What are we watching?” Jasper asked Connie.

_ “Samurai Jack,” _ she said.  “Swashbuckling adventure and grrrrreat flaming eyebrows.  I think you’ll like it.”

“Oh, neat.”  She tucked a cushion behind her head and hugged her knees and watched.  Blue carried on drying and folding and putting away towels, and then resumed her knitting, and Jasper could feel her casting wistful glances at her but didn’t want to respond.  She had a strange feeling that Blue was trying to act domestic and Pearly as a way of appealing to her, since being mischievous and Lapisish earlier hadn’t worked.  True, that hadn’t been exactly Lapis’ style of mischief, but there had been an element of enjoying seeing Jasper squirm.  Of course she’d squirmed, she wasn’t made of ice.  If she  _ were _ then Blue would be able to make her do whatever.  

_ Why did I have to think of something so creepy?  I know she doesn’t want to  _ make _ me do things.  She wants me to  _ want _ to do things and of course I  _ do _ want to do things but if Pearl and Lapis are still thinking that would make things too complicated then I can’t.  I don’t want to hurt them or let them down.  I wonder if her pussy tastes more like Pearl’s or more like Lapis’ or different from either of them.  What is  _ wrong _ with me?  You’re not allowed to think about pussy while watching cartoons, I’m fairly sure that’s a rule.   _ She tried again to concentrate on the story and on the saucepan of cocoa Steven gave her, which was both hot in temperature and hot in flavour with lots of cayenne.  The only problem with that was how aware of her lips it made her; she  _ liked _ the burning tingling sensation she got from capsaicin, but it was unhelpful when she was feeling guilty about the way she’d responded to Blue kissing her.

_ Maybe they don’t care, maybe they’re fine with it, or maybe however they feel they’re really stuck and can’t do anything about it.   _

Garnet, Peridot and Amethyst came home, and she made an excuse to follow Peridot and Amethyst to their room.  Peridot was overexcited about the fact that today she’d successfully independently bubbled a corrupted Gem, and happy to try to teach Jasper how to do it.  

This proved to be a stumper.  No matter how many different ways both Peridot and Amethyst tried to describe and demonstrate to her what you did, she couldn’t seem to make it happen.  

“I wonder if the shape’s the problem,” she said, watching carefully as Peridot repeatedly and with increasing impatience bubbled and unbubbled the Hot Wheels car currently standing in for a fallen Gem warrior.  “Maybe I can’t do  _ bubbles.” _

“Try a box, then,” Peridot suggested.  That was fruitless.  “Or a pyramid?  Pointy shapes seem like you.”  She managed to produce a brief flicker of light which got them all excited for nothing.

“Ugh.  Maybe I caught mental blocks from Blue.”  Jasper slumped over and put her head on the seat of the couch and rolled the little car from side to side across the cushion with her fingertip on its roof.

“How  _ is _ Blue, since you happen to mention her?” Peridot asked, clambering up beside her, in the tone that meant she thought she was being very discreet and subtle while obviously dying to ask a million highly probing questions.

“Blue.  I mean, unhappy.  Weird.  Sort of horny.”

“What, like she’s hitting on you?” Amethyst asked.  She sounded a lot more serious and disapproving than Jasper was used to from her.

“No, like I hugged her when she was upset but she got the wrong idea from that and kissed me, and it was kind of a hard situation to get out of without being mean.  I think I managed that okay but I don’t know.  But then there was some kind of joking around but not  _ really _ joking around about whether she’d be able to quote-unquote seduce me.  You know the kind of thing, ‘I’m totally only kidding unless it seems like you’d be into it’?”

“What a creep,” Amethyst said indignantly.  “I hope you told her where she could shove it.”

“Of course not,” Jasper said, startled.  “I don’t want to hurt her feelings, and the problem was I  _ was _ kind of into it.   _ But  _ I don’t know whether I’m into her because she reminds me a lot of both of them and I miss them, or if I really like  _ her.   _ Plus she made me promise I’ll poof her if she can’t split up after a week.”

“And you’re okay with that?  ‘Cause you weren’t when I offered.”

“Not really?  But I have to try and do what she wants.”  Jasper ran the little car into Peridot’s foot, thinking of Lapis making a fuss about her socks.

“Why?” Peridot asked, pushing the car back.  “I mean, I understand being kind to her but you don’t have to  _ obey _ her.”

“I just feel responsible for her.  And it could have been me who got her stuck like this, yelling at her when she was already upset and scared.”

“Well sure, possibly, but you don’t know that.  We think you’re being a little hard on yourself, that’s all.”

“We?”

“We’ve discussed your predicament, obviously, as happy couples  _ do _ discuss their friends who are having relationship problems.”

“Uh, thanks.”  She ran the car over Peridot’s toe.  “So I figured I may not be able to take her out myself - I know she looks flimsy but she’s actually pretty strong, and I don’t want this to be a  _ beating,  _ so it needs to be decisive.  So Amethyst, would you be okay with helping me?”  She glanced up at her where she was sitting on the back of the couch.  “We’d need to fuse.”

“Sure I will!  Can’t wait to see who we make.  You want to try now?”  Amethyst jumped down and bounced on the seat.  “We gotta go outside, who  _ knows  _ how big you and me will get.  I’m thinking actual kaiju size.”

“I - not yet, I need to psych myself up for it, and it’s probably still raining, and anyway, wouldn’t it be better to do it in daylight so we can get a good look at the results?”

“Yeah, true.  Oh man, this is gonna be great!  I didn’t ever wanna  _ ask _ you to do it ‘cause I know how you feel but I was always really really really hoping there’d be a good reason!” Amethyst crowed, still bouncing.

“I don’t know about a  _ good reason. _  It’s a pretty lousy situation.”

“No, look, it’s one of the best reasons.”  Amethyst squeezed her shoulder.  “It’s ‘cause I’m your friend and you knew you could count on me to help you.  Yeah?  That’s fusion right there.”

“Aw.”  Jasper smiled crookedly up at her.

“And I am  _ not _ offended  _ not _ to be asked,” Peridot said pointedly, “because I think it’ll be interesting to document the whole thing.  There really needs to be a formal study of inter-Gem fusion and I guess I just have to be the one to do it.  I’ll film you two for posterity and for later analysis.”

“And for your spank bank if our fusion is outrageously hot, which let’s be real, she probably will be,” Amethyst said, grinning.  “I mean, the hair alone.  The  _ ass.” _

“She might come out weird, though,” Jasper said.  “I mean, you’ve seen Malachite.”

“But Malachite’s really cool-looking,” Amethyst said, looking puzzled.

“She has six arms, no legs and a butt shaped like an egg,” Jasper said, equally puzzled.

“You had a shitty time being her and I think that’s just fouling up your perspective on how awesome six arms, no legs and an eggbutt really are.”

“It’s definitely a bold and unorthodox configuration,” Peridot said, “even if it isn’t exactly spank bank material for me.”

“We’ll try her out tomorrow,” Amethyst said.  “Get comfortable, figure out our moves, maybe a catchphrase, it’ll be great.  Seriously, J, you deserve a good fusion experience,  _ finally.   _ I can show you how awesome it’s  _ supposed _ to be.”  She patted Jasper’s shoulder like she was trying to press some confidence into her.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter which begins and ends with Jasper in bed alone. But in between that there is knitting and the Macarena.

Jasper woke up with the weight of a warm body on top of her, which got her hopes up briefly before she realised it was way too big and heavy to be Pearl or Lapis and was, in fact, Lion.  At least that was comforting after a disappointment.  She lay and combed her fingers through its mane and tried to prepare mentally for the day.  She’d slept badly, waking up repeatedly from dreams in which she tried again and again to climb out of a deep sandy pit while the sides slid down all around her.  She’d probably set herself up for bad dreams with all the sad masturbation; it couldn’t be good for your state of mind to mix up crying and coming, and she’d got herself into a weird state where she was too worked up to stop but so upset that it took forever and she was still a bit sore from too much friction.  

It occurred to her that she didn’t know whether a fusion including one grumpy tired Gem with a sore pussy would therefore form grumpy and tired with a sore pussy; it seemed possible and both a pretty poor way to make somebody start their existence and awfully embarrassing.  But no, because right before she’d first formed Malachite with Lapis she’d been angry and frustrated and aching all over from her fight with Garnet and the crash, and Malachite had felt fine - in fact, Malachite had  _ initially _ felt amazing, bursting with brand new vitality.  Since there wasn’t going to be any double-cross this time, it seemed safe to hope that New Fusion, whoever she would be, would get a similarly good start and would be able to hold onto that fantastic feeling.  That was a little encouraging.  

And maybe this was going to be fun the same way wrestling and playfighting with Tourmaline was.  She’d only seen Opal briefly from a distance and Sugilite not at all, but if Tourmaline was at all representative of what a fusion involving Amethyst was like, this could actually be kind of a treat.  Besides, when she was really hurting for physical affection, that kind of friendly rough and tumble was a big comfort.  It wasn’t going to be what she’d been longing and hoping for with Pearl but she loved Amethyst, no question.

“Trying  _ really _ hard to look on the sunny side of this,” she murmured to Lion.  It rolled over and headbutted her under the chin.  “Yeah, okay, love you too.  I’d better get up, though.”

When she stepped out into the living room she got hit in the middle by an enthusiasm-propelled Amethyst and almost knocked back through the door.  

“You’re up!  Took ya long enough!  I was getting ready to go down there and drag you out by the hair.  Peridot’s all set.  Look at her headgear.”

Peridot pointed with both hands at the video camera she was wearing heavily taped to a bike helmet.  “Hands free!”

“What do you need both hands free for?” Jasper asked, tucking Amethyst under her arm like a football.

“I don’t know yet, that’s why I want them to be free.”

“Can’t fault that logic.”  Jasper looked out the window.  “Aw, it’s still pissing rain.”

“Yeah, I know, we’ll just warp somewhere else.  Strawberry fields, Mask Island, the desert, we’ve got options, right?” Amethyst said.

“The desert seems like a good idea.  Lots of free space, nothing much we can mess up, and falling on sand doesn’t hurt too much.  Plus, rain’s not going to be a problem.”

“Cool,” said Amethyst, and stretched her arm to slap her on the butt.  “Go-go-go.”

As she stepped down from the warp pad, Jasper let Amethyst go and then wiped her hands on her leggings; they were sweaty.   _ It’s normal to be nervous, it doesn’t mean anything’s going to go wrong,  _ she told herself.  It didn’t help much, but somehow saying it to herself again in Pearl’s voice was more soothing.  

“You okay?” Peridot asked, looking up at her.  The red recording light on the video camera was shining.  

“Uh, yeah.  Do you need to film this part?”

“I want to get as much footage as possible.  The whole process, start to finish.  Don’t worry, you’re pretty photogenic.  Or telegenic or videogenic or whatever I mean.”

“And if it all goes horribly wrong, it’ll make a great found-footage horror movie,” Amethyst pointed out.  “Okay, so I think I should put in a disclaimer real quick before we start.  This really depends on who I’m fusing with, but fusions with me in ‘em can get… rambunctious.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’ve met Tourmaline.  I’ve been suplexed by Tourmaline.”

“Okay, but Tourmaline’s actually pretty chill.  I’m not saying our fusion isn’t going to be too but I don’t  _ know.   _ She might be kind of aggressive.”

“Or berserk,” Peridot added helpfully.

“Knock it off,” Amethyst said.  “I’m just telling you, J, so if it happens it’s not gonna take you by surprise.  If it does we’ll handle it.  Right?”

“Um… right.”  Jasper wiped her hands again, on her dress over her backside.

“And let’s just walk away from the warp pad a bit, ‘cause it’s a really long walk to the next one if we put a giant foot through it or something.”

“You’re psyching me out,” Jasper grumbled, following Amethyst.

“Well, that’s the opposite of what I’m  _ trying _ to do.”

“Me too,” said Peridot.  “I’m wondering if I should’ve worn a bigger helmet.”

“Okay, that’s far enough.  Just take a sec, and clear your head, and think about what you want to get out of this,” Amethyst said.

“You sound all wise and Garnetty,” Peridot said, looking from her to Jasper.  

“Yeah, I asked her for tips.  What’ve you got, J-rock?”

“To make a good stable fusion strong enough to poof Blue Opal quick and clean and get Pearl and Lapis back,” Jasper said readily.  “Preferably with a normal-shaped ass, but at this stage I’m not fussy.”

“Okay, that’ll really help.”  Amethyst grinned up at her.  “You got this, okay?”

“Okay.”  She took a deep breath, let it out, rolled her shoulders back and flexed her hands, then bowed and offered Amethyst her hand.  “Shall we dance?”

“Oh, you’re fancy, huh?  I can do fancy.”  Amethyst dropped a curtsey - a parody of a curtsey, but she had to know how to do it right to send it up like that - and took Jasper’s hand.  “And a-one, and a-two, and a-you-know-what-to-do.”

She’d thought it would be unbelievably awkward to dance with someone as short as Amethyst, that she’d have to bend double, but of course Amethyst was used to dancing with people taller than her.  This absolutely wasn’t her style of dance, Jasper knew that from seeing her and Peridot form Tourmaline, but she knew what she was doing and she was fast and light as her feet scuffed in the sand.  Jasper was able to let go of concentrating on the physical dance as they spun together, and as light filled her head she grabbed herself by the metaphorical shoulders and gave them a hard metaphysical shove.

It was happening, it was happening, it was happening, like an ocean wave swelling up to break, and her biggest achievement that day was not to fight it.  The new form was coalescing - and then it wasn’t.  Her head cleared and she shook with relief and disappointment.

“That’s okay,” Amethyst said.  “Doesn’t always come together the first time, we’ll try again.”

After six tries and six near misses, she began to sound impatient.  “You know you  _ can _ do this.  You’ve gotta be holding back.”

“I don’t  _ feel  _ like I am,” Jasper growled, kicking the sand.  “I feel like I’m busting my ass.”

“Speaking of your ass, you’re dancing like you’ve got a stick up it.  Is this the only dance you know?”

“Of course it’s the only dance I know, and I only learned it for emergencies.  I mean, apart from that I’ve only ever danced with  _ Greg _ and that’s just skipping around a car doing windmills with our hair because a good song came on the radio.”

“Haha!” said Peridot, who up to now had been lying on a pile of sand she’d built herself looking limp and bored.  Jasper glared at her.  “Oh come on, I have to find some entertainment.  Also, it’s a cute image, you  _ skipping.  Frolicking.” _

“Maybe prancing?” Amethyst suggested, snickering.

“Pronking!”

“If all you two can do is make fun of me I’m going -”

“Take it easy,” Amethyst said, patting her on the knee.  “We can make fun of you and do  _ lots _ of other things.  You want me to teach you some better moves?”

“Ooh!  I can too!” Peridot exclaimed, bolting up and shoving her hand up in the air.  “I just learned the Electric Slide from internet videos!  But don’t be intimidated by how good I am, I had to start at the beginning like everyone else.”

“Forget fusion for a while, let’s just dance.”

So they danced.  There wasn’t any music but Peridot announced that one of her many newly-developed talents was beatboxing, so they had that.  Amethyst made Jasper learn the Macarena on the grounds that any idiot could do it and nobody was actually above enjoying the Macarena, which proved to be disturbingly true.  Once they were out of breath and laughing over that Peridot urgently declared that now they had to learn her dance and demonstrated it with great seriousness and intensity, and after that Amethyst declared it was Stupid Fad Dance Mash-Up Time and things moved rapidly beyond Jasper’s ability to keep up with them but she had a good time stamping her feet and swinging her hair around.  Eventually they all had to lie down.

“That backfired,” Jasper said, still panting a bit.  “Now I’m too pooped to fuse, and I don’t poop easily.”

“You don’t poop at all,” said Peridot, and laughed like a hyaena, kicking her feet up in the air.

“Thanks for getting me out of the house, anyway.  It’s good to have a break from Blue.  I really like her but that’s part of the problem.  We just keep kind of sniffing around each other and sooner or later  _ someone’s _ gonna hump someone’s leg.  And there are people who want to give you advice on how to handle having two girlfriends, sure, but where are they when your two girlfriends fuse into an enormous potential third girlfriend but you can’t, I dunno, ‘negotiate boundaries’ and all that touchy-feely crap?”

“You’re thinking potential third girlfriend?” Amethyst asked, sounding baffled.  “I thought you wanted to get rid of her.”

“I guess I want to have my cake and eat it too.  That is such a weird expression, am I even using it right?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.  I knew you thought she was hot but I didn’t think you were…”  Amethyst sat up, looking serious.  “I’m just going to say I think it’s a bad idea.  I’m still amazed Pearl is cool with being with you and Lapis together.  Maybe if she had a nice long time to get all comfortable with that,  _ then _ you could talk about someone else, but you guys are still brand new.  It just feels like asking for trouble.  So I’ve said that and I’m not gonna go on about it.”

“Believe me, I agree with you.  But then…  _ cake,”  _ Jasper concluded wistfully.

“You should just say sex, you don’t even like cakes all that much,” Peridot pointed out.  

“I’m not gonna  _ do _ anything about it, I just wanted to vent a little bit about how tempting it is.”  Jasper rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand.  “Come on, you know I don’t want to mess up the best thing I’ve ever had.”

“Good.  Because how would you feel if - if Pearl snuck around on you with Malachite?” Amethyst asked.  She still seemed concerned about this to the point of grumpiness.

“Very, very confused.  I mean I know she likes 'em big but I'm pretty sure she also likes 'em bipedal.”

“Okay, bad example.”

“Can I ask something?” Peridot asked, sitting up, and went on without waiting for an answer.  “Are things okay between you and Lapis?  At least, were they last time you talked? The last time  _ I _ got to talk to her properly she was all nervous and excited about spending the night at your place and I never did get to hear how that turned out.”

“It was great!  It was amazing.  We were all so happy, and I was honestly just expecting to get to enjoy that a while longer before something else weird happened.  I never got a chance to get used to it.  I wish I hadn’t trashed my phone, I had pictures on there.  One of Pearl just being so cute I could scream and a really - well, kind of weird but also really nice one of me and Lapis that she  _ wanted _ me to have.  She wanted me to have a picture of us together and carry it round with me and that felt so important.”

“Well, that stinks.  That you’ve lost that,” Peridot said.  “I would have tried to recover something from your old phone but we couldn’t even find all the smithereens.  It was hard enough finding  _ you.   _ It was lucky I spotted more or less where your gemstone fell and then it was just a matter of quadrants.  You were in a fern, by the way.  But I’m sure you’ll get a chance to take  _ new _ weird, cute, nice pictures with both of them very soon.”  She reached over and patted Jasper’s arm.

“Thanks.”  Jasper sat up and stretched.  “I should get back, though.  See how she’s doing.  I don’t want her to be lonely.”

“She’s a big girl,” Amethyst said, rolling her eyes.  “I think she can entertain herself for half a day.”

 

When they got home Blue was sitting on the couch, knitting a sock rapidly and ambidextrously with each pair of arms.  Yesterday’s scarf was already done and draped around her shoulders.  It looked more warm and snuggly than the lacy capelet had.  She looked up when the warp pad flared and beamed as they came trooping down.

“Welcome back!  Did you do anything exciting?”

“Just hanging out,” Jasper said.  She didn’t exactly want to  _ hide _ what they were up to, but the idea that they were practising forming a fusion to take her out, even if she had specifically asked for it, seemed likely to spoil Blue’s day.  “Wow.  You are  _ fast.” _

“All part of the journey of self-discovery,” Blue said, shrugging without breaking stride or dropping a stitch.  “It turns out I  _ really _ like to knit.  An odd talent, but I’m not fussy.  These will be for Steven to keep him warm in winter - do you think he’ll like the colours?”

“Pink and yellow are a safe bet for Steven,” Amethyst said, wandering over to inspect the knitting.

“Do  _ you _ want anything, Amethyst?” Blue asked brightly.  “Socks or a scarf, a hat - mittens?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“I’m always interested in expanding my wardrobe,” Peridot said.  “How about a cardigan?  A big one like a coat, with deep pockets.”

“Hmm,” said Blue, “I think I could work something out.  All one colour, or stripes, or patterns?”

“Can you do twisty cables?”

“I can learn!  It’s funny, I  _ think _ Pearl knows these things already.  I can’t exactly draw on her knowledge but I suspect I’m learning fast because it’s already there.  That  _ might _ be a way to help… you know, I really don’t know whether the trick is to draw them back out or to… push me back in, as it were.  But anyway.  I’d  _ like _ to think it’s re-establishing whatever connection to Pearl I’ve managed to block off.  And what about you, Jasper?  A big cuddly sweater?  Or I could knit lots of coloured blocks to make a patchwork blanket for your bed, or maybe you would like legwarmers, or of course, you could have socks too!  Don’t be afraid to challenge me, I live for a challenge.”  Even allowing for the fact that she was knitting with the speed of a machine, Jasper couldn’t help thinking that Blue seemed to be planning projects for weeks, not for the next three days.  Three, or two now?  Or had she meant to wait for a week after the day they talked about it?  Talk about negotiating boundaries.

“I think you’ll have your work cut out with Peridot’s cardigan,” she said, realising that she was leaving a gap in the conversation.  “I mean, see how you do with that before you line up a whole lot of other stuff.”

“All right, but when everyone sees how beautiful it is and my services are in demand you may wish you’d got your request in sooner.  Oh, who am I kidding, I’ll bump you in the queue; how could I not?”

“Anyone else home?” Amethyst asked, casually shifting into the shape of a cat and pouncing on a loose ball of yarn in order to bunny-kick it to death.

“Garnet took Steven and Connie up to the arena; she’s subbing for Pearl for the time being.  Really, it could be good for them to be taught by someone different for a while, couldn’t it?  If there’s one thing I  _ do _ know from Pearl’s memories it’s that Garnet is wonderful and can do anything.  Except crossword puzzles, for some reason..”

“Garnet  _ is _ a good teacher,” Peridot said, picking Amethyst up awkwardly.

“This is not how to hold a cat, dude,” Amethyst said, sagging out of Peridot’s arms.  “You’re gonna get bit.”

“You want to bite each other, you do it in your own room,” Jasper said.  “I’m pulling rank.”

“You don’t have a  _ rank,”  _ Peridot scoffed, slinging Amethyst over her shoulder.  “You’re not even the tallest person here.”

“She’s the oldest,” Blue pointed out.  “And the tallest person agrees, no biting in the living room.”

“Pscht, weak,” said Amethyst.  “We’re gonna go into town and bite each other in public.”  She snapped back to her normal form, causing Peridot to fall over and go “oof.”  “C’mon, Pitabread,” she said, helping her up.  “Dumpster-diving date, you, me, let’s go.”

“The best kind of date!”  They scampered out into the rain-washed afternoon, which was finally brightening up a bit.  Jasper stuck her head out the door as they ran down the steps and saw fitful sunbeams coming through gaps in the clouds.

“I hope they have fun,” Blue said comfortably, still knitting away.  “They make such a cute little couple.  But I’m glad they went out and we can have some quiet time together.”  Her needles finally clicked still, and when Jasper looked back at her she looked worried.  “I mean, if you’d like to.  I shouldn’t assume, should I?  I made things awkward the last time and maybe I’m being overly sensitive but I felt as if you were trying to avoid me after that.”

“You didn’t make things awkward all by yourself.  It was at least half me.”  She opened and closed her hands, trying to remember what she did with them when she wasn’t nervous.  “I wanted to take a little break to kind of… remove the temptation to do anything really dumb for a while.  Listen, I just realised I might have misunderstood something and I’d better clear it up or I could do something  _ else _ really dumb.  When you said to poof you after a week, did you mean a week after you fused and got stuck, or a week after that conversation?”

“Oh,” said Blue, her eyes widening, “I meant after the conversation, but if you thought I meant after fusing when you agreed to it -”

“No no, that’s totally fine, it’s what you  _ meant _ that counts.  That’s why I’m asking.  You know what?  I’ll put it on the calendar.”

Blue began to giggle, shaking her head.  “That’s so macabre, Jasper.  On the kitchen calendar, in between things like pizza night and Sadie’s birthday?”

“Is Sadie’s birthday coming up?”   _ Thank you, distraction! _

“I think it’s at the end of the month.”

“I should do something.  Make her a present.  I’ve never done anyone’s birthday before - I’ll have to ask Steven how.”  She crossed the room and sat on the floor by the couch, near Blue’s legs.

“Who…  _ is _ Sadie?” Blue asked.  “Is she someone important?  Should I have met her?”

“I guess she’s important because she’s nice, but she’s not important like powerful or famous, just a regular human who lives in Beach City.  I like her a lot.  Haven’t seen her in a while - I should go by the doughnut shop and say hi.”  

“Thank you for not actually writing ‘Poof Blue’ or whatever on the calendar.  Unless - are you actually worried about forgetting when to do it?”

“Trust me, I expect to remember.”   _ Damn, we got back round to grim topics pretty quickly. _  Steven had moved the TV back up to his room, but it wouldn’t take long to bring it back down.  “Did you want to keep on watching  _ Adventure Time?   _ I’m pretty sure there are a lot more episodes.”

“Do  _ you _ want to?” Blue asked, looking at her hopefully but anxiously.  

“I do.  It’d be nice to see you laughing again.”

“You just saw it yesterday.”

“A daily dose does me good.  Sit tight and I’ll set things up.”   _ Why did I say that? _ she asked herself as she climbed the steps to the loft.   _ Stop flirting with her, dummy. _

Blue didn’t laugh as uproariously as she had at her first viewing, but she quickly began to giggle at the cat with “approximate knowledge of many things,” and when the guardian angel turned out to be a monster she gave a startled little cry that became peal after peal of laughter.  She had to put down her knitting and wipe her eyes.  “Oh, that’s so  _ terrible!” _

“You have such a weird sense of humour,” Jasper said, grinning.  

“I like things that are weird and horrible, don’t you  _ know _ that?”

“That why you like me?”

“Yes, clearly,” Blue said with a sly smile.

“Oh, what!”

“You walked into that, it was sad to see.”

“True, true,” Jasper said, and sighed philosophically.   _ Someone else needs to come home and save me from myself.  Oh shit she’s playing with my hair.  How do I stop her playing with my hair without telling her to stop playing with my hair?   _

She just had to take it as symptomatic of how contrary and unreasonable she was being that when, at that moment, the warp pad lit up and Steven and Connie hopped down from it, and Blue took her hand out of her hair as she turned to say hello to them, she felt a sudden stab of irritable anger at them for interrupting.  She paused the DVD and told herself not to be more of an idiot than she had to.

“Did you have a good lesson?”  Blue was asking them.  “What did you learn?”

“Strategies for fighting someone a lot taller than you,” Connie said.  “First Ruby and Sapphire de-fused so Ruby could show us, then they re-fused so we could practise on Garnet!  It was pretty neat.  We’re still adjusting to Steven being a little taller than  _ me _ now, but I guess we just have to go on adjusting till we’re both full grown.”

“Which in Steven’s case could be very full indeed,” Blue said, nodding.  “Sooner or later you may have to learn strategies for fighting someone a lot shorter than you.  You can help with that, can’t you, Jasper?”

Jasper shrugged.  “Of course, but basically, take everything you learned to do today and assume they’re going to try to do that to you.”

“You could come help us, Blue,” Steven suggested, with tremendous, obvious cunning.  “You’re the tallest.  Even Jasper would have to fight shorty-styles against you.”

“Yes, but I’m a noncombatant,” she said, picking up her knitting again.  “Sorry, but even to help you two learn, any kind of fighting is completely unappealing to me.  Speaking of you growing, I’m knitting these a little big just in case.”

Garnet had been standing quietly by the warp pad, but she came over now and said, “Jasper, could I have a word?” gesturing briefly with her head towards the deck.

“Oh.  Yeah, no problem.”  She got up and followed Garnet, while Blue, Connie and Steven continued to discuss whether socks with separated toes were cool and fun or terrifyingly creepy.

The deck was still damp from the rain but the sun was shining more clearly now and there was a breeze that tossed Jasper’s hair around and made Garnet’s hair shake slightly in place.  Garnet stood leaning against the railing and looking vaguely seawards.

“How are you coping with Blue Opal?” she asked.

“Okay, I guess.  Not great.  I haven’t figured out any way to help her.  Can you see a way out of this?  Future vision any help?”

“It’s important to remember that I don’t see a set future.  I see possibilities and it’s still possible for me to be surprised by which of them comes true.  What’s possible depends on more factors than any of us can comprehend and those factors are changing from moment to moment, including the ways we may react once we know what the possibilities are.  You see?”

“Very foggily,” Jasper admitted.

“So what I can tell you is only a snapshot of the most likely possibilities as of now, and what you decide to do about them could either ensure one of them comes to pass or that none of them does.”  Garnet folded her arms as if to say “take it or leave it.”

“Thanks for the disclaimer, I guess.  What are the frontrunners, then?”

“Currently three possibilities are leading the rest.  In one possible future, Blue finds her own way to restore whatever balance is upset and separate.  That sounds like the most desirable outcome but the details aren’t clear enough for me to be sure how to steer towards it.  In another she’s forced to separate by something traumatic.  It’s not hard to see how to make that happen.  In a third she stays this way permanently, or at least for a long time to come.  I needed to talk to you about that because I have the strong impression you’re nudging her towards that outcome.”

“Not on purpose!” Jasper cried.  

“You’re encouraging her.”

“I know, but I can’t just be  _ mean _ to her,” she protested.

Garnet looked blank for a moment, then bent forward, her mouth twitching.  A suppressed laugh fizzled out between her lips and then she straightened up and laughed openly.  “I’m sorry.  But it’s  _ you _ insisting you  _ can’t _ be mean to someone.  I was just remembering the things you said when you first came here.”

Jasper’s face heated up.  “That’s completely different.  I was there to fight you.  And I didn’t understand a lot of things that I know more about now.  And just because I  _ know how to be _ mean to people doesn’t mean I can just do it to anyone at the drop of a hat, especially someone I lo -  _ like.” _

“It’s all right.”  Garnet touched her shoulder briefly.  “I don’t want you to be mean to her anyway, but I think you need to stay focused on getting things back to normal.  When I come back and find the two of you snuggling in front of cartoons I have to wonder if you’re not giving her a very strong incentive to stay just like this.”

“We weren’t actually  _ snuggling.”  This time. _

“Blue Opal isn’t like me.  I’m a relationship between two partners who knew what they were getting into and mutually agreed.  I don’t understand how she works but we have no way of knowing if Pearl and Lapis are even willing to remain permanently fused, and until we do know - I’m going to worry about my friend,” Garnet concluded quietly.

“I’m sorry,” Jasper said, abashed.  “I - because you act so calm all the time sometimes I forget about how you could be feeling.”  To tell the truth, sometimes she forgot Garnet  _ had _ feelings.  

“But enough about me,” Garnet said, as deadpan as ever.  “You can have an influence on Blue in a way I don’t think I can.  Think about how you can encourage her to solve her problem, before she forgets it  _ is _ a problem.”

“I - I told her I still want to be able to see her once she can go back and forth again,” Jasper said.  “Do you think that was a mistake?”

“Probably not.  Giving her some reassurance that de-fusing doesn’t mean never seeing you again seems like it would help.”

“Now I’m rehashing  _ everything _ I’ve said to her in case it was exactly the wrong thing.  Oh,  _ shit.” _  A memory had just popped to the surface, and her formerly hot face felt stinging cold.

“What is it?”

“Not to Blue but to Lapis.  Just before they fused Lapis and I had an argument.  It wasn’t a bad one!  It’s not like there was yelling or name-calling, but I was a little peeved at her for not forming Blue  _ sooner _ because it would’ve saved me a lot of hassle, and she was kind of defensive.  Could that have done it?”

“Do you think your relationship with Lapis is so fragile that a minor argument would have such a drastic effect?”

“I don’t know,” Jasper moaned, her shoulders slumping.  “I never know.  I thought we were so much better, we could even bicker a bit and just have fun, but maybe I got that wrong.”

“That’s something you should talk about with her.”

“If I ever get another chance.”

“You will.  Well, in two out of three likely futures, you will.  The numbers are on your side.”

 

Jasper passed another restless night.  She racked her brain about how to help Blue so long that it turned on her and decided she was going to think about Red instead, and the longer she thought about her the more she realised that she’d actually been in love with her without understanding what it meant, and the more she questioned whether she would even like Red if she met her again now.  Or whether Red would like her as she’d become.  Words like “traitor” and “degenerate” came to mind.  

Red had been loud and scornful on the subject of fighting gems who accepted luxuries like Pearls; they were weak and slack and wouldn’t last a day in a real campaign.  And that was when you thought of a Pearl as a  _ luxury  _ rather than as a person who you knew, who had her own personality and thoughts and habits, and  _ that _ was before you thought a person like that could be someone you might make friends with or fall in love with.  And  _ that _ was before you even contemplated that you  _ and _ the Pearl might be able to form your own intentions about the purpose of your lives, independent of what anyone else might have intended for you.  There were so many gaps between where she was now and where she’d been then that she didn’t know how to fill them with explanation.

_ It’s pointless even to think about it now.  So I loved her.  I’m never going to see her again.  I’m never going to  _ need _ to explain to her how my life’s worked out and what I want now and why I want it.  And if anyone asks, which they probably won’t, I’ll still say Pearl’s my first love because I don’t think it fully counts if you don’t understand at the time that you’re in love. _

_ She gave the best damn hugs, though, so strong and tight.  If she hugged me I  _ stayed  _ hugged for hours, I could still feel her arms round me.  I’m never going to get that kind of hug again.  I think it’s okay to feel a little nostalgic about it. _

_ Red would’ve let herself be crushed into sand before she’d have caved and tried a fusion. _

_ Why couldn’t I fuse with Amethyst today?  Don’t tell me I can  _ only _ do it with Lapis, like she’s ruined me for everyone else.  What was holding me back?  I guess I just didn’t know what was going to happen.  Maybe Amethyst made me nervous talking about how rowdy her fusions get, and being kaiju size, and things like that.  I don’t want to be another monster, but this might  _ be _ a job for a monster.   _

_ Because I don’t know how non-monster me can just walk up to Blue Opal and clobber her. _

_ What if when we try she fights back?  Everyone  _ does _ fight back if they’re cornered and they’re really in danger, don’t they?  Even cowards and weaklings?  I wonder if fighting back would set her free.  Doing what she was too scared to do back in the forest.   _

_ It  _ is _ fear, isn’t it?  It has to be.  I know all about fear and how it can lock you up.  But I also know you can get the fear under control and you can get past it, it just takes way longer than I want it to.  The only way to do it is to approach the thing that scares you, bit by bit, in a way you can control.  Look at it or touch it or whatever you’ve got to do.  Let yourself see that you can be there with it but still be safe.  Stop when you need to.  And then do it again, and again, till I guess you’ve got more memories of times you were with it but safe than of the time something terrible happened.  It’s not perfect, and I’m pretty sure if I ever end up in deep cold salt water again I’m still going to feel like I’m going to die, but I can be in a pool and be okay.  I can even be in a pool and be  _ happy _ with Pearl.  If I can do that with Lapis too, that’ll really feel like turning a corner, I think.  Maybe next summer I’ll be able to… paddle in the little frilly waves at the edge of the beach or something, I don’t know, it’s not important yet. _

_ Kind of obvious when I think about it.  This is all I’ve got to offer Blue for dealing with whatever happened to her.  I only have to be better at it than Jake the Dog. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An excessively busy day.

Jasper broached the subject while Blue was dusting the next morning.  She wasn’t really sure whether that was something Blue herself felt compelled to do or something she was just trying to maintain for Pearl in her absence.  Either way, she could get the ceiling beams in the living room without any need for shoulder rides.  It made Jasper feel a bit redundant.

“So!” she said, in a voice that sounded far too hearty to her own ears.  “How you doing this morning?”

“Very well, thank you.”  Blue looked down at her in mild surprise.  “And you?”

“Uh, yeah, pretty good.”

“You seemed worried yesterday.  I couldn’t help noticing.  Was it something Garnet said to you?”  She twirled her feather-duster restlessly.  “Was it about me?”

“I could be worried about something other than you,” Jasper pointed out.  “But yeah.  She’s worried about you…”  She tried to think how to put it diplomatically, and felt very sharply how constitutionally ill-suited she was to this.  “Getting too  _ comfortable _ is probably not the right word.  But I guess getting settled and feeling like this is normal now?”

“I see it’s one rule for her and another for everyone else,” Blue said a little peevishly.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s fine for  _ her _ to be a fusion full time, for that to be  _ her _ normal, but not for  _ me.” _

“You’re missing a pretty big point there.  Ruby and Sapphire  _ decided _ to be Garnet all the time together.  I still wouldn’t want to live that way myself but it was their choice.  They must have thought about it and talked it over and agreed.  Did Pearl and Lapis choose this?  We can’t even tell, right?”

Blue rested one hand on a ceiling beam and leant her head against it.  “I know.  Believe me, I know.  I know I’m being inconsistent, too.  I don’t  _ want _ them to be trapped if they’re unhappy about this, and I don’t want  _ you _ to be unhappy missing them.”

“It’s not just me.  You can see how much Steven misses both of them, right?  Garnet and Amethyst are really worried about Pearl.  Peridot’s asking me about Lapis.  Even Chalcedony’s been asking where they are, according to Steven, and who knows how much she understands about anything.  Everything’s off without them here.  I don’t want you to be gone for good, I just started getting to know you and I really  _ really _ like you, but I need to see them and know they’re okay.”

“What if… they  _ did _ say they wanted to stay fused?” Blue said, slowly, as if she had to ease the idea out a bit at a time.  

“I can’t lie to you, I don’t think they will.  But if they did, if we knew it was what they wanted, it’d all be different.  We  _ could _ get comfortable with it then.”

“So I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up.”  Blue gave a brief, rueful smile.  “Of course, we can talk about this and make all the good resolutions we want, but I don’t know how to change back any more than I did five days ago.”

“I know.  I’ve been thinking there’s something that might help.”

“Like... what?”  Blue narrowed her eyes a little.

“Going back where it happened and trying to get back to how you were feeling then.  Kind of - reconstruct how it happened, maybe?  Except I know that could be really hard and upsetting and I want you to know I’m not expecting you to just  _ go _ like that.  But maybe we could do a flyover, or something like that, just to make a start?”

“I think you might be projecting your own feelings onto me a little bit,” Blue said.  “I don’t feel afraid to go back to the forest.  It’s not my Ocean of Fear.”

“Really?  I thought it was.  Especially because you got so upset  _ watching _ ‘Ocean of Fear.’”

“The  _ setting _ isn’t that important to me.  At least I don’t think so.  But I suppose it could be worth going back there to see how I feel.  Perhaps it would shake something loose.”  She twirled the feather duster again, thoughtfully.  “Would it be all right if we go in the afternoon?  I want to do something by myself first.  Call it mental preparation.”

“Yeah, absolutely, no problem.  I can find stuff to do.  Maybe… two o’clock?”

“Two o’clock it is,” Blue said, and smiled.  “You won’t be bored waiting for me?”

“I’ll find something to do right now.”  As soon as she’d said it her mind went absolutely blank so it was a relief that Steven came in from outside just then, carrying a plastic grocery bag.  “Steven!  What’re you doing?”

“Uh - just got back from the store, going to take Chalcedony some chips?”  He raised the bag as evidence.

“Could you take Jasper with you?” Blue asked, and dropped her voice to a stage whisper.   “She’s at a loose end.  Pestering me.”

“Oh, sure.  C’mon.”  He led the way to the Temple door, glancing back at Blue curiously, though she had already gone back to dusting beams.  As the door closed behind them he asked, “Everything okay with you two?”

“Yeah, basically.”

“She seemed to want to get rid of you.”

“No, we just made a plan for the afternoon but she wants me out of her hair till then.  Better than being clingy, right?”

“I guess she  _ is  _ a little clingy most of the time.”  He ambled over to the pink cloud playpen, where Chalcedony was playing tag with the tiny floating whale.  “Hey ‘peetle!  Brought your favourite  _ and _ the new limited edition flavour: biltong!  It’s… South African beef jerky, I think?  Not really sure how you put that in a potato chip.”

“Sss-tik!  Tikka-tik!”  Chalcedony shook her mane and pranced.

“Woo,” said the tiny floating whale.

“Hi, buggy.”  Jasper sat down cross-legged and rumpled Chalcedony’s hair.  “What’s shaking?”  Chalcedony shook her backside, which made her laugh in surprise.

“Sss-ch-ch-tik?” 

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Oh, she joins Lapis and Pearl’s names together now,” Steven said, popping open the barbecue flavour chip bag.  “I don’t  _ think _ it means Blue Opal - I think she just decided to consolidate the ch-chs when she talks about both of them.  Makes life easier.”

“Sss-ch-ch-tik will be back soon,” Jasper said, trying to sound confident.  “I’m working on it.  That’s what this afternoon’s plan is about, too.  Are you missing them?”

“Ch-ch-tik Sss-tik,” Chalcedony said.  

“She picks up that I’m really missing Pearl, I think,” Steven said.

“Sss-ch-ch click,” Chalcedony went on.

“Click is new.  Who’s Click, Chalcedony?”

Chalcedony turned around in a circle and faced them again, then bobbed her head.

“Oh gosh!  Does Click mean  _ you?”   _ He leaned over the side of the playpen and picked her up.  “Click?”

“Sss-tik!” she said happily.  

“Do you want me to call you Click from now on?”  Chalcedony wriggled, trying to get down, and he let her onto the floor where she promptly burrowed her head into the open chip bag and began crunching.  “Is that no?”

“Click might mean ‘me’ or ‘I’ instead of her name,” Jasper suggested.  “And does Sss-ch-ch click mean she misses Lapis?”

“I bet she does.  They’re really good friends.”  Steven opened the second chip bag and sniffed.  “I smell pepper and… beef that turned into wood?”

“I never ate a biltong, so how do we know if the chips really taste like it?”

“Beats me, I never had any either.”  He took out a chip and licked it with the air of a connoisseur.  “Hmm, okay, the reliable Chaaaaps base potato note is present, it’d be hard to screw that up.  There’s a  _ lot _ of pepper.  Surprisingly authentic meaty flavour.  No smoke, which is surprising for a jerky, but I’m getting a piquant touch of vinegar.  I’d give it… seven out of ten.”

“Let me try one?”  She’d said one, but it was easier to snaffle a small cluster of them.  “Hmm.  Okay, I like the pepper, not thrilled about the vinegar.”

“Salt and vinegar are flavour BFFs!  Pepper and vinegar… maybe flavour Facebook friends?” Steven suggested.  “Chalcedony, see what you think.”  She backed out of the barbecue chip bag, stained orange, and opened her maw for a handful of biltong chips which she crunched vigorously before gaping again for more.  “I guess she approves.”  He gave Jasper a sidelong glance.  “I was… kind of wondering if you felt like Blue was a way of consolidating Pearl and Lapis and that made  _ your _ life easier.”

“Not even a little bit.  She’s got things in common with both of them, I like some of the same things about her, but she’s not either of them.  I miss their voices, I miss Pearl’s big shiny eyes, I miss… I just miss all the different things about them.”  She smiled ruefully, scratching barbecue flavour dust out of Chalcedony’s mane.  “All our drama must look so weird to you.”

“Are you talking to me or her?”

“More you, but I’m sure it applies to her too.  Right, Clicky?  Hey, if you want to upstage ‘em with your own big comeback feel free, we’d all like to see what you really look like.”

“I used to think eating ice cream would activate my powers and sometimes I  _ still  _ like to think chips will be the magic thing for Chalcedony.”  Steven licked crumbs off his fingers.  “Like maybe if we could just find the right flavour.  I don’t think biltong’s it, but hey, process of elimination!  Oh yeah.  When’s your plan with Blue today?”

“Two in the afternoon.”  

“Can you come up to the arena with me and help me practise some things?  I’ve been feeling kind of nervous about the whole fighting and growing and changing the way I fight thing, and I think more practice would help.  Plus, if I actually am gonna grow up into a big Quartz, I should be learning from you, right?”

“Oh, okay.”  She still didn’t like the feeling that half-ruined arena gave her, but she did need something to keep her busy and it wouldn’t do to leave Steven feeling nervous if there was something she cold do about it.  “Well, the way I fight’s a little different from what will work for you, unless you get a helmet or grow a really thick skull, but I’m happy to help you practise.”

“Do you think you could teach me that Tasmanian Devil thing you and Amethyst do?”

“Tasmanian who now?”

“You wind up and go whizz and zoom!”

“Ohh, right.  For me that was kind of instinct but I bet we can figure something out for you.”

“And we can bring Chalcedony.”  He leaned over and whispered, “I’ve got a theory she might really be a Quartz gem too because of her poofy hair.  Maybe we’ll kind of inspire her?”

“We can try.”

 

They returned home at a quarter to two, Steven tired and sweaty and with a slightly twisted ankle but insisting he felt a lot better and was super ready for a late lunch.  He hadn’t mastered the spin dash yet, but by the method of running as hard as he could while Jasper held him in place with one hand against his head he’d started to make his legs blur and they were both pretty excited about it.  Chalcedony, rather than seeming inspired by their uplifting training montage, had taken a long nap.

“Oh, I was forgetting,” Steven said after stepping down gingerly from the warp pad.  He licked his hand and swiped it over his ankle, then wiggled his foot experimentally.  “Yep!  Working today.  C’mon, Clickedony, you can be my sous-chef.”

Blue was sitting waiting on the couch, her long legs tucked up.  “What have you two been  _ doing?” _ she asked.  “You look like you’ve half wrecked each other.”

“Only a quarter at most,” Jasper said, although now she was self-conscious about her own sweaty state and all the grit and grime about her person.  She’d started out with her hair in a tight ponytail and half of it had escaped around her shoulders.  She pulled out the scrunchie, finger-combed it into some kind of order and bundled it back up.  “Just helping Steven with his training.  He can really land a punch.”

“You were letting me punch you,” Steven said, laughing.

“Well sure, for practice, but look!”  She held up her right forearm.  “See where you got me here when I blocked you?  That’s a bruise, my short friend.  That’s a nice little bruise, and I’m not easily bruised.”

“Glaah,” said Steven, and licked it better.

“Aw man, now what can I show off to people?”

“You’re covered in cool scars and you want to show people a little knuckle bruise?”

“Well, I was hoping it’d last till we get Pearl back and if I showed her she’d be really proud of you.”  She ruffled up his hair.

“Oh,  _ shucks.” _

“The thing is,” said Blue, coming over, bobbing down, licking her own thumb and wiping a smudge off Jasper’s cheekbone, making her pull her head back in surprise, “Pearl is proud of you all the time, Steven.  In perpetuity.  That’s one of the things I know from her for certain.  Whether or not Jasper has a fresh bruise to show her really doesn’t matter.  Though of course it would be nice.”

“Psst,” said Jasper to Steven, crouching down beside him.  “Sock me again real quick, you can have a free hit.”  She presented her upper arm this time.

“Okay, brace yourself, I’m not playing.”  He pulled his arm back, frowning in determination.

“Quick note,  _ don’t _ stick your tongue out like that.”

“Oh, but it’s cute,” said Blue.

“It’s not cute if you get hit while you’re doing it and you bite through it.”

“Ew!” said Steven.

“What, you’ve never noticed this?” Jasper stuck out her tongue.  “I gueth ith har’ to thee in ngy ngouth, bu’ thee there?”  She pointed near the tip.

“Yikes, it  _ is _ two colours,” he said, peering.  

“Yeah, one of my grosser injuries,” she said, pulling it back in.  “I bit it  _ off _ and I just had to spit it out and keep going.  It grew back the next time I poofed but till then I couldn’t talk right and everyone did impressions of me.  Never made  _ that _ mistake again.”

_ “Yikes,”  _ Steven repeated, his eyes widening.

“ _ But,”  _ said Blue, tapping her chin with her forefinger, “Steven’s tongue is covered in healing spit.  The salivary glands under it  _ produce _ healing spit.  It would probably be knitting itself together as fast as his teeth pulled out of it.  Even if he  _ did _ sever the tip, if you held it to the main part quickly enough it could probably join up again.  Not that it’s something I’d like to  _ experiment _ with, but it’s an interesting  _ concept.” _

“Well, even if you  _ could _ stick it back together it’d still hurt worse than you can probably imagine, so keep it  _ inside _ your teeth when you’re fighting.  Or, you know, preparing to take a swing at an unresisting friend so she can have a cool bruise.  C’mon, do it.”

“Okay okay, tongue safely  _ in. _  Brace yourself.”  Steven wound up and slugged her in the arm hard enough that she actually slipped sidways a little bit.

“Wow!”  Jasper rubbed the spot.  “Think you made a dent.”

“Aw!”

“Okay, bruiser, we’re heading out now.  Hey!  Literal bruiser!”  She got to her feet, grinning down at him, and he grinned back.

“See you later, Steven,” Blue said, then inhaled a bit as if she wanted to change what she’d said, but then just smiled.  They got on the warp pad and headed for the forest.

“It’s okay to say ‘see you later,’” Jasper said when the glitter cleared.  “I’m sure you will.”

“That’s what I decided.  That, and we can’t necessarily expect anything to happen today.  Making a big deal of goodbyes would be premature.  I’d feel awfully sillyf if I just had to slink back after that.”  Blue stepped down from the pad and looked around, inhaling deeply.  “I actually like the smell here, all resinous and earthy.  It’s a beautiful day here, too.  Shall we go?”  She shook out her wings.

“Um, okay.  You remember the way?  I can’t get my bearings here at  _ all.” _

“I think so, and once we get up above the treetops it’ll be like looking at a map,” Blue said.  She bent on one knee and held out her arms.  “Ready?” she asked.

“Yep.  Okay, let me get comfortable.”  She clambered in, hooking her arm around Blue’s neck again.

“This is one of the things I hope we can do in better circumstances one day,” Blue said, folding her arms firmly around her.  “Just for fun.  I mean, do you think flying is fun?”

“I think it’ll be more fun when I get used to it.  C’mon, let’s go.”  She gave Blue’s shoulder a brisk little double pat.

“I promise I won’t drop you,” Blue said, “although if you don’t feel safe enough with me just holding you maybe we could make some sort of harness or sling for you.”

“Ha, no, I’d feel like a baby.”

“Like a new little human?  Why?”

“Haven’t you ever seen them carrying the really little ones around like that so they can go hands-free?  I guess not.”

“I can’t imagine you having anything in common with a really little infant human.  Except aren’t they known for sleeping a lot?  I suppose there’s that.”

“Stop giving me shit and fly,” Jasper said, grinning.

“Up we go.”  Blue sprang up with a powerful downbeat of her wings.  Jasper caught her breath at the feeling of  _ lifting,  _ at the way it didn’t end but just carried them higher.  She thought of Hogarth Hughes and the Iron Giant discovering on the run that the Giant could fly and of Nausicaa on her glider.  She thought she’d been right about getting used to it - not that she was used to it  _ yet _ but the second time around she was definitely appreciating it more.  She felt safer than she had any right to expect cradled in Blue’s arms, and the way the wind rushed around them was exhilarating.  They were rising above the treetops, beating up, up into the bright, chilly sky.  She wasn’t quite ready to scream “Whee!” or “Woohoo!” but she was looking out around them eagerly. 

Blue seemed to reach as high as she wanted to go, levelled out and began to fly in wide circular sweeps.  “Can you see the stream?” she asked, loudly but close enough to Jasper’s ear that she didn’t have to shout against the wind.

“Uh… there?” She tried pointing, felt dramatically less safe and brought her free hand right back to its previous spot locked round the wrist of her other arm.

“No,” said Blue, laughing.

“Well if you know, why make me guess?”

“Just to see if you could.  Come on.”  She swooped around until Jasper  _ could _ see a wiggling broken line between the trees, and as they followed it, a bare patch came into view up ahead.  “There it is.”  

They flew towards it and glided over, looking down.  The triangle of shingle was still scarred, deep grooves in the gravelly ground showing the muddy earth beneath, but the scars were already a little blurred by the passing weather.

“There it is,” Blue said again.  “Well.  What do you want to do?”

“What do  _ you _ want to do?”

“I don’t know, what do  _ you _ want to do?” Blue said, affecting a dopey voice.  “Let’s not be one of  _ those _ couples.  I’m happy to land.”  She swooped down and alighted on the narrowest point of the triangle, letting Jasper’s feet down with care.  Jasper held onto her long enough to be sure she was steady and wasn’t going to scuttle off sideways when she tried to walk forwards, then let go and dusted herself off a bit.  It was peaceful here with no tree-destroying monster fights going on.  The streams were running rapidly with a chuckling, pattering sound.  She took a few steps away and stretched with her fingers interlaced and her arms over her head, abruptly remembering as she did that Pearl always took this as flirting.  To be fair, it often was, but this time it was just because she’d cramped herself up a bit holding onto Blue so tightly.   _ Shit, if she thinks I’m posing for her - well, I’m  _ not _ so I’m not going to stop this like I’m  _ guilty.

_ Was she just being sarcastic or  _ does _ she think of us as a couple?  It’s not fair to let her think that but it’s not fair for her to decide that by herself.   _ She dropped her hands and shook out her arms, turning on the spot to look around, and found as she turned that Blue was doing the same.

“What do you think?” she asked.

“I think without any poor corrupted Gems going berserk on it it’s a nice spot for a picnic.  Pity we didn’t bring a blanket.”

Jasper put her hands on her hips.  “Blue, are you trying to act tough?  For a slightly dainty, talking about picnics value of ‘tough’?”

Blue glanced down at her sideways.  “Perhaps ‘insouciant’ or ‘unruffled,’” she admitted, folding her arms around herself.

“Is that how you really feel being here?  It’s okay if you’re not upset, believe me, but please don’t fake it.”

“I don’t feel scared or anxious or panicky, if that’s what you mean.  I feel irritable and ashamed because this is where I let you down and made trouble for everyone.  And I feel helpless because I don’t feel any closer to being able to defuse.  Helpless and really stupid.  It’s like not being able to  _ fall over. _  Like trying to throw something away and having it bounce back at you.  Some people have difficulty holding their fusions together, you know.  Pearl was always impressed that I’m easier to sustain than her Opal with Amethyst.  Pearly Opal, Purple Opal.  Popal?”

“Tourmaline wants to call you Blopal,” Jasper said, for no reason except that she had just remembered it.  It made Blue giggle, and then laugh a touch hysterically until she needed to sit down.  Jasper sighed and sat down beside her.  She picked up a pebble and threw it into the swirling water where the two streams met.  It made a satisfying “clop” sound.

“Oh dear,” said Blue, wiping her eyes as her laughter died down into weak gasping.  “I  _ am _ wound up.  I really tried to be relaxed for this.”

“Was that your mental preparation this morning?” Jasper asked, tossing another pebble.

“Well, first I finished Steven’s socks.  I haven’t started Peridot’s cardigan yet.  I was thinking that, all going well, she might have to do without it, and I didn’t want to cast on when I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish it.  It’s an interesting variation on the traditional sweater curse.  But yes, I finished the socks as a way of putting my affairs in order.  Then I tried to take a nice soothing bath.  It didn’t really help.”  She picked up a crooked stick that lay nearby and began poking at the shingle with it.  “I  _ want _ to tell you something that I probably shouldn’t, because of our awkward position, but there isn’t anyone else I’d feel comfortable confiding in about it.”

“Is it about baths?”

“No, it’s - I probably can’t make this worse.  Shall I just say it?”

“Might as well,” Jasper said warily.  “If it’s something I really don’t want to hear I’ll tell you to stop.”

“All right, well, Lapis always masturbates in the bath, it’s her favourite place for it.  I do it too, at least I do now, because I felt this strange inhibition about it when I was new.  I was curious about my body and how I could make it feel but there was all this off-putting anxiety about it being wrong or going wrong or spoiling things somehow, which seemed to clear up after  _ they _ began having sex, so I suppose whatever it was they worked it out and I felt better too.  It felt  _ wonderful. _  But since I’ve been stuck it hasn’t worked at all, and I’ve tried and tried and I get more frustrated each time.  I  _ know _ Lapis has this problem  _ sometimes,  _ where she gets close and then it sort of slips away from her, whether it’s by herself or with Pearl, but never this complete inability - I mean, I always take a while, I need a gradual build-up and there can be a false start or two before I really get there, but as long as I’m patient and nobody interrupts me I can count on a lovely orgasm in the end.  Instead of which I keep rubbing myself raw and  _ nothing _ happens but I feel I have to keep trying because I’ve  _ convinced _ myself it’s some sort of key or clue.  I’m sorry, this has been totally excessive, but you didn’t tell me to stop.”

“Um,” said Jasper, “okay, so, um…  Okay, are we both on the same page that I am  _ not _ the person to help you with this in a, uh, hands-on way?”  The blush bomb had gone off in her head yet again and the extremely unco-operative part of her imagination that specialised in intrusive thoughts was offering her a full presentation with coloured slides of suggested positions.

“Oh yes.  Don’t worry.  I know it sounds as if I’m fishing for you to volunteer, but I really did just want to tell someone I trust what the problem is.  I don’t know if I think  _ having _ an orgasm would be the magic trick that frees me to split up, or if I have to find a way to split up or I won’t be able to have one again.  As if my body is forbidding it to motivate me - or as if somehow Pearl and Lapis are.  It just seems as if it must mean something that the two have gone together.”

“Couldn’t it just be as simple as not being able to get off when you’re in a really weird unsettled situation and it’s throwing you off?  I’ve been having trouble too.  I really need to do it because I need the  _ comfort,  _ but it feels like it takes forever, and I’m getting tired and sore, and I am  _ not _ used to that.  Not to be obnoxious, but I’m used to it being pretty quick and easy.  Pearl  _ teases _ me about how easy it is to get me off, that’s why she has fun making me wait for it - okay, that’s TMI but I think my basic point stands, it could be that simple.”

Blue gave her a small, tight smile.  “Well, anyway, that’s what most of my ‘mental preparation’ was, hoping I could fix it before we came  _ here _ to try and fix it.”

“I think you mentioned this before anyway.  Not in this much detail but you said something about trying it as a way to relax and it wasn’t working.  I think I thought you meant you came but it didn’t solve the problem, though.”

“Nope,” said Blue.  “And I wish I hadn’t done it today because the tension and frustration have probably sabotaged what you were hoping to accomplish.”

“It’s okay, Blue, I wasn’t expecting to accomplish anything in one visit.  Other than, you know, accomplishing one visit.  Sorry if I made it sound like I did.”

“Maybe I projected my hope onto  _ you.”   _ Blue drew up her knees and rested her chin on them.  “Jasper, I do appreciate you coming here with me and trying so hard to encourage me.  I wonder, though, if it’s not a distraction to have you here.  You  _ could _ still be right that being here is a good way to rethink what happened to me that day, but I don’t think I can focus on it while I have the option of talking to you.  Would you mind taking a walk just for a little while, so I can try that?  I’ll whistle when I’m ready for you to come back.  I can do an amazingly loud whistle.”

_ Promise you’re not going to leave without me or spend the whole time frigging yourself, you weirdo,  _ Jasper thought, and scolded herself for thinking.  “Okay,” she said, getting to her feet.  “I’ll go… commune with nature or something.  Ride a deer, punch a bear, whatever.”  

“Jasper?” Blue stopped her with a light touch on her arm.  “I’ll understand if you say no, but on the off chance that I  _ do _ have some kind of inspiration or breakthrough and defuse today, which means it’ll probably be a while before I see you again, could I have a kiss goodbye?”

“Oh.”  It really could be a while, she reflected; who knew how Pearl and Lapis would feel about forming Blue again after this mess.  “Is on the cheek okay?”

“On the cheek would be ideal.”

She leaned in, smelled freesias, and pressed her lips to Blue’s cool silky cheek.  “See you later,” she said, hoping Blue understood why she said that instead of goodbye.  From the slightly weepy smile she got in exchange she thought she probably did.

“See you later!” said Blue, brightly.  She tucked her chin down on her knees again, staring at the water with great focus and determination, and Jasper took the hint and walked away.

Now what was she supposed to do?  The forest sucked.  She didn’t think she actually wanted to punch a bear; if a bear tried to start something she would obviously finish it but fighting animals on purpose didn’t seem very sporting.  She walked up the left-hand side of the triangle, following the wider of the two streams, digging her hands into her pockets and congratulating herself again on remembering pockets.  Currently they contained the new phone from Greg, two little mustard sachets, a loyalty card that might eventually get her a free pizza, a cinnamon lip balm stick and three hair elastics.  Not that much to amuse herself with.  

She took out the phone and had a look at it; there was no signal here, which wasn’t a big shock, but also meant she was stuck with only what was already on the phone, and she hadn’t bothered yet to install any games or puzzles.  It hadn’t seemed important.  She could try nature photography.  Wilderness like this was  _ supposed _ to be beautiful, and she knew it was her surly attitude that was at fault, but she also felt she had some justification for it.  She looked at her arm; Steven’s bruise was coming up nicely, brick-red like a hickey.

“Ew,” she said, and laughed to herself.  No problem with entertainment with a gross sense of humour.  She trudged on beyond the treeline.  This stream ran faster because it was coming down from hillier land and the ground either side of it was more rocky and less brackeny than she remembered the other one being, so that was a plus.  There were some birds singing today, presumably because there were no monsters out, except maybe technically herself and Blue.  Some people would think aliens counted as monsters, but birds weren’t people so that was okay.  She wandered onward, tucking the phone back in her pocket.  She had nowhere in particular to go, so she just kept going, on up the winding course of the stream, gradually sloping upward.

It was peaceful bordering on dull.  At one point she saw a rabbit, only because it had broken cover at her feet and was booking it to safety.  After a while there was a place where the trees thinned out on the other side of the stream and she could see what looked like a bit of a clearing that way.  She stepped across the water and went to investigate, on the general principle that it was something different from what she’d been seeing for the past twenty minutes so it deserved to be looked at.  She didn’t know enough about forests to have any idea why you got clearings in some places but not others.  This one was not exactly clear, since there were a lot of small plants scattered around, old tree trunks crumbling with moss and rot and baby trees here and there.

And this was interesting, because it looked like people had been here.  It could just have been Garnet and Steven or Amethyst and Peridot the day of the hunt, but there were traces of footmarks here and there where the ground was soft, not nice orderly lines of footprints like you got in damp sand on the beach, but they looked fresher than the gouges back at the shingle triangle.  Then again, this spot was probably more sheltered with the trees around it, so maybe things didn’t get weathered as much?  She didn’t think much of herself as a wilderness tracker, but trying to figure this out was interesting.  She squatted down and peered at a footmark that looked too big even to be hers, but was definitely shaped like a foot in a shoe.  She was glancing around for any matching ones, because that was  _ definitely _ weird, when she saw something white move from the corner of her eye.  It was too high up to be another rabbit.  Maybe a deer?  Steven would like to hear about a deer.  She looked around eagerly.  

She didn’t see the white whatever, but she noticed something else odd.  Over at one end of the clearing, some fallen trees and boughs were piled together in a way that didn’t look natural or accidental at all.  She was embarrassed not to have noticed it sooner.  That was some substantial lumber.  Whoever moved it either had equipment that would be hard to get in here and would leave more traces, or they were her size.  And what were they covering up with that pile?  She started over towards it and was distracted by another peripheral glimpse of white.  Was the mystery tree-mover lurking nearby right now?

“I don’t know who you are,” she said aloud, “but I’ve got no reason to hurt you.  Why don’t you come out and talk to me?  My name’s Jasper.”

There was no answer, so she felt stupid.  Could a corrupted Gem have done this?  They could be strong enough but did they do things that purposeful-looking?  They acted like animals, so would they try to build lairs?  And here she was, by herself, out of cell range, with her only backup a noncombatant who probably couldn’t hear her yelling at this distance.  What a pain in the ass.  It went totally against the grain to back down and try to skulk off without a fight, but it might be the smarter thing to do right now.  She put on her helmet and stood very still, her eyes darting around, listening.

There it was!  Another quick flicker to her left  _ and the patter of small feet,  _ she definitely heard that,  _ small _ feet, she saw the direction it was moving and lunged to intercept it.  She tackled something small and light that shrieked, and rolled clutching it until they bumped to a stop with her on top.  She shoved the side of one forearm against it to hold it down and blinked in astonishment.

She had pinned a Gem she’d never seen before.  She was maybe in between Peridot and Lapis Lazuli in size and she was a glistening, very faint blue-white.  Her hair was like a puffball of down around her head and her eyes were wide and staring and her gemstone was set in the base of her throat where the collarbones joined.

“Oh my stars,” she said breathlessly, and put her little white hand slap on  _ Jasper’s _ star, the symbol over her chest.  “Are you a  _ real rebel?” _

“Uh.  Yes.”  

“Eek!” said the newcomer gleefully, and drummed her heels.  “I’ve been captured by the Crystal Gems!”

“Who the hell are you?” Jasper demanded, trying to take back the initiative.

_ “Oh,”  _ said the little white Gem, but Jasper was distracted from whatever she would have said by a sudden stamp of a heavy foot, felt through the ground as well as heard.  She looked up and saw a huge pale figure emerging from between the trees, and felt a jolt of shock and recognition and elation, and then a shot of shame because part of the elation was the thought  _ Another real Quartz! _

The other Quartz was milk-white and her hair was a massive puffy crest and her voice when she bellowed  _ “Get off her!”  _ was  _ huge.  _

“Take it easy,” Jasper began to say, getting to her feet, and the little white Gem was squealing, “Milky, guess what!” and she had just enough time to shift into a defensive posture as she realised the white Quartz was charging her, and then she hit Jasper like a truck and they went crashing back into the trees.  The white Quartz was slamming thunderous punches into her midsection but her head was unprotected and Jasper snapped her own head forward and hammered her helmet between the white Quartz’s eyes, briefly stunning her.  That gave her just enough time to roll clear, kick off from a tree and plough into her with a counter-attack.  She could hear herself laughing and she knew that was wasting energy but this was  _ a proper fight  _ and it was glorious.  No holding back because this was practice or wrestling, no feeling bad because it was a tragic creepy corruption, a chance to crash against another full-size full-strength Quartz until one of them fell.  She hadn’t even realised how much she was missing this until she got to do it again.  They were well matched!  This was going to be hard!  _ Yes! _

She wasn’t happy enough to forget all caution, though.  The white Quartz hadn’t summoned any weapon yet.  She was keeping something back.  Anyone who did that was supremely confident, or wanted to  _ tell _ you they were, signalling “I can beat you with my bare hands.”  No helmet or shield either, meaning “You can’t hurt me.”  You couldn’t tell at first whether you were dealing with someone who was actually strong enough to back those boasts with something, or a poser, or just an idiot.  Then the white Quartz headbutted her, with her bare  _ head, _ hard enough that her helmet burst with the shock, so that marked her down as either really strong or an idiot.  Or a really strong idiot.  She’d been able to break the helmet but she’d also stunned herself again, giving Jasper time to shove her away and reform the helmet.  She put more energy into it this time.  She tried to fall back a little to give herself space for a better attack, but there were trees everywhere.  It was knock them over or work around them, and they’d already felled several crashing around.  

She heard a scream then that, if she hadn’t been wearing the helmet, might really have split her head.  It was shocking; she’d never heard a noise like that.  It shook her badly enough that she lost her chance to move and could only brace herself when the white Quartz stepped in and slammed a knee into her belly and her back into another tree.  This had to be the only tree in the damn forest that wouldn’t fall over if you crashed a Jasper into it, so she got pinned against it and received three more heavy blows to the chest and belly before she managed to thrust her hand up under the white Quartz’s chin, making her jaws snap together with a mighty clack and her head snap back, and that let her shove her back and push off from the tree that had just become her ally and follow up with a boot in the guts.  There was another terrible scream and the white Quartz’s hand flashed round with a hooked blade and she dodged only well enough to get a glancing blow that gouged her shoulder rather than chopping off her arm.  She staggered back, reaching for the ally tree, but it wasn’t where she thought it was any more and the blade was humming through the air at neck height and there was no more time.

In the creepy dreamlike way that sometimes happened when something very, very bad was going to happen to you and you didn’t have time to stop it but somehow enough time to observe it in great detail, she saw the blade coming nearer and the trajectory it would follow like a line of light in the air, and at least she had the dignity of getting poofed by someone strong and not a  _ complete _ idiot.  The only problem would be if she was the type to shatter her enemies so they couldn’t repeat on her.  But it didn’t happen.  The blade never reached her.  Instead there was an incredible wrenching, groaning, creaking sound almost worse than those screams, and the air exploded with splintery dust, and a wall of water shot up between them that struck the weapon out of the white Quartz’s hand as if it were nothing and sent it spinning away.  The wall curved and closed around the white Quartz, a circular fence three metres high and rushing around and around so fast that when she tried to push through it it just spun her around until she dropped in the middle of the enclosure.

_ Lapis! _  Jasper thought, with a surge of joy and love and pride that kept her on her feet.  There was dust and dry splinters everywhere, and trees were still groaning and collapsing, and she realised that Lapis had torn the water right out of them.  The stream wouldn’t have been enough.  

But Lapis wasn’t there.  Blue Opal was descending from the sky, her arms outstretched and her eyes bright and fierce and intent.  

“Blue, you fought for me!” Jasper yelled, giddy.  

“This isn’t fighting,” Blue said, landing softly in the middle of her devastation.  “This is containment.  I’m not going to hurt you but you are going to stand down.”

“Milky, just listen to her!” cried the little white Gem, who had somehow avoided all the mayhem, apart from what she had caused with her screaming.  “It’s all right, it’s  _ them!   _ I found them!”

The white Quartz got to her feet, her mighty chest heaving.  “She was on top of you!” she roared over the white noise of the water.

“Don’t  _ worry! _  I had it all under control.  We were just introducing ourselves.”  She scampered over to Jasper, who was watching everything with her mouth hanging slightly open, hoping to catch up at some point, and beamed at her.  “Jasper, wasn’t it?  I am  _ charmed _ to meet you.  I, of course, am Celestine.  This is Milky Quartz.  Won’t you please introduce  _ your _ friend?”

“Blue Opal,” Jasper said.  “Her name is Blue Opal.”

“Oh my, I’ve never met one of  _ those _ before,” said Celestine.  “Helloooo!”  She waved up at Blue.

“Hello,” said Blue politely but doubtfully, keeping the water spinning.  “You don’t normally need to climb on top of people to introduce yourself,” she said to Jasper.

“She was sneaking around so I tackled her.  And I was never planning to hurt her, so you can relax,” she added to Milky Quartz, who was still looking at her in an aggrieved way, as far as she could tell through the water wall.  “You’ve got an interesting way of introducing yourself too.”

“I yield,” Milky Quartz said sullenly.  “Let me check on Celestine.”

“All right,” Blue said, and lifted the wall, holding the water in a bubble overhead.  Milky Quartz rushed over to Celestine and began a thorough inspection for injuries while she protested that she was perfectly fine and Milky was an old fussbudget.  Jasper made her way to Blue Opal, discovering on the way that she’d rolled her ankle quite painfully, and hugged her around the waist.

“You have pinecones in your hair again,” Blue pointed out, smiling.

“You were great.  I was so proud of you.  I  _ knew _ you could fight if you wanted to.”

“But I  _ didn’t fight. _  I just broke up a fight.”

“Oh.  I guess so.”  She stepped back, starting to think that hugging Blue round the waist and pressing her face into her tummy wasn’t the smoothest move.  “But you know you saved me, right?”

“I did!” Blue exclaimed, and began to giggle, and repeated, “I did!” just as she burst apart in a splash of light.  That would have been a beautiful moment if not for the fact that she also lost control of the bubble of water, which crashed down and bowled everyone over with a swirling circular wave.  Jasper couldn’t have cared less about the water.  It only bothered her because it was in her way.  It flowed away and she scrambled up and shook back her drenched hair and was hit in the chest by a jet-propelled Pearl, who threw her arms around her neck and laughed and cried all over her.  Jasper clutched her tight and swung her around for joy, and realised what they were doing just before she realised she wasn’t afraid to do it at all.

 

Lapis picked herself up and stared at the new fusion stumbling to a stop, her head level with the treetops and her eyes wide with delight.  The newcomers were lying sprawled beside her, Celestine safely wrapped in Milky Quartz’s huge arms.  They exchanged a stunned glance.

“If you don’t mind my saying so,” chirped Celestine, “you people are  _ freaky.” _


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day continues to be excessively busy.  
> GUEST STARRING AGATE, AS DESIGNED BY THE ALMIGHTY TIDDYGEM.TUMBLR.COM (by Tiddygem's kind permission).

Lapis shook herself dry, looking up at the new fusion.  “Hello up there,” she called out.  She had to admit she was impressed; iridescent pale orange skin on long, smoothly muscled legs was most of what she could see.  The new fusion was twisting and turning, trying to look at herself all over.

“I think I can help you with that,” Lapis said, wondering if she was even listening.  She swept up a sheet of water from the soggy ground, stretched it in front of the new fusion and silvered it over to make a full-length mirror.  “What do I call you?”  She was trying very, very hard not to get offended by Pearl instantly re-fusing with Jasper, reminding herself both that this would mean a lot to Jasper and that it had looked like a spontaneous thing, but it was a bit much if their fusion was going to  _ ignore _ her.

“Oh!  I’m sorry, I’m just distracted with everything happening at once.  I mean…”  She stretched out her arms, branched at the elbow, and gestured at herself in general before dropping to one knee and holding out her hand.  There was no question of a shake, but Lapis gamely gave her a pat on her outstretched fingers.  “I’m Agate,” she said, with a brilliant smile.  “Talk about a dramatic entrance, right?”

“It was definitely memorable.  Welcome to the world.  But please don’t take this part as representative.  We just trashed it a bit.”  Somewhere in the background another desiccated tree collapsed, and Lapis winced.  Blue had really gone for overkill.

“And thank you for making this,” Agate said, glancing up at the mirror.  “Do you mind if I check myself out for a bit?”

“Be my guest.”

“Wow,” Agate said with a little laugh as she straightened up.  “I’m a tall drink of water, aren’t I?  I feel strong, though.  Like springy.”  She bobbed her hair around, admiring her topknot of a ponytail.  “I feel  _ good.” _  She twirled around and twitched her hips to make the sash around her waist wag like a tail.

“Does this sort of thing go on all the time?” Celestine asked, drawing Lapis’ attention back to her.  She was sitting on Milky Quartz’s knee now, with her legs crossed, looking strangely clean when everyone else was dabbled with mud, sawdust and pine needles.  “Gems just fusing willy-nilly?  Will we be expected to participate?  I’m adventurous but Milky prefers to walk on the mild side.”

_ “Celestine,” _  Milky grumbled, blushing a strange faint silvery colour.

“No.  It’s just a coincidence that it happened just when you turned up - new fusions don’t happen that often, so this is a special occasion.”  

“Well, I am intrigued,” Celestine said, and gave a tinkling little laugh that set the seal on Lapis’ assessment of her.  Some things hadn’t changed all that much after all.

“White Diamond will be missing one of her inner circle, won’t she?  Someone important enough to be assigned a Quartz bodyguard can’t go unnoticed.”

“Oh, yes.  I love your dress, by the way, it’s so classic.  Everything old is new again, right?”

“Which doesn’t really answer my question,” Lapis said sweetly, carefully reminding herself that ruining snotty little trinkets’ lives was not the sort of thing she did now.

“I said yes.  I expect she will be missing me, but that will just have to teach her a lesson, now won’t it?  Do you know your friend’s doing a handstand?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, she’s athletic on both sides.”

“Look what I can do!” Agate exclaimed.  Lapis turned to find her balancing on one hand and waving the other three at her.  She couldn’t help smiling.  Agate was cute on both sides too.  She gave her a little wave back, just at waist height, and Agate winked at her.  Oh, and she knew it.

“Should I ask  _ her  _ to introduce you to me?  What’s the custom here?  Assuming pinning people to the ground  _ isn’t _ standard after all.”

“Celestine,” Milky murmured reproachfully.  Even a murmur from Milky tended to sound like a subterranean tremor.

“I’m sorry, I have been  _ so _ rude.  My name is Lapis Lazuli.”

“Oh!” Celestine exclaimed, her arched eyebrows popping up.

“Yes.”

“Then you  _ are  _ a rare treasure.  I didn’t know there were any left.”

“Then you still have a lot to learn.  It’s such  _ fun _ to have so many surprises in store.”

“It’s like going back in time!”

_ Help, I’m out of practice and I’ve been spending too much time with Jasper, I want to punch her in her perfect little ski-jump nose. _

She’d been taking in all the little details she could see, from the perky little nose and rosebud mouth to the pom-poms on her slipper toes.  Actually, Celestine’s hair reminded her of a pom-pom too; then there were her pom-pom puff sleeves and her fluffy pom-pom skirt, with a snug scoop-necked bodice in between.  Everything was white or that glistening faintest blue; looking at her under bright lights would be blinding.  Life being what it was, she had an adorable little figure too.  If she were taller it would be hourglass but at her size it was more like an egg-timer.  What Lapis felt sure about, though, was that Celestine was “important” only because she was a kind of pet.  Been there, done that.

She was more curious about Milky, who was more unusual-looking the longer she looked at her.  She had a completely classic Quartz build, broad shoulders, powerful arms, thick chest, massive hips and thunder thighs, and the kind of handsome face you would expect too, with a broad forehead, high cheekbones, a strong jaw and almond eyes, but she was clearly defective.  One of those lovely eyes, her left, was dull and didn’t move.  Even more striking, and she hadn’t noticed this at first because Milky was clearly well-practised in holding it inconspicuously, her left hand was deformed.  It wasn’t quite a hand, more of a mitten shape.  Virtually every Gem Lapis had ever met wore her gemstone proudly on display, even if that meant cuts-outs in her clothing.  Milky’s Quartz stone, set into her right biceps muscle, was half covered by an armband.  Her clothes were plain compared with Celestine’s, a sleeveless jumpsuit with a faint harlequin pattern of satiny and matte white diamonds, the same fabric as Celestine’s bodice.   What was the story there?  An important pet assigned a defective bodyguard?

The ground shook a little as Agate sprang back to her feet, and two sets of hands came together in a brisk clap.  “So, what’re we doing?” Agate asked cheerfully.

“Why, take us to your leader!” Celestine said brightly.  “I cannot  _ wait _ to meet the infamous Rose Quartz.”

“You’ll have to,” Lapis informed her.  “I’m afraid Rose Quartz is long gone.”

“Oh,” said Celestine, her crest falling very slightly.  “Then who is your leader now?”

“Do we really have a leader?” Agate asked Lapis, squatting down again.  “It’s an anarcho-lesbian collective.”

“Only Peridot has ever called it that.  Really, of all the things you could remember you remember that?”

“Jasper thinks it’s funny,” Agate said, grinning.

“An ana-what?” Celestine asked.

“A bunch of troublemakers and bad girls,” Agate said, her grin broadening.

“That’s exactly what we want.  Exactly what we are!  Sign us up, we’re rebelling.”  Celestine slapped Milky’s knee for emphasis.

“What are you rebelling  _ against?” _ Lapis asked pointedly.

“Everything!”

“Please be more specific.  We have standards.”

“Tyranny and repression and - and stuffy rules for no good reason.”

“White Diamond won’t let her give concerts for anyone else,” Milky explained.  

“It’s ridiculous and I demand my artistic freedom!” Celestine exclaimed, shaking her tiny fists.

“Artistic freedom?” Lapis repeated.

“Yes!  It’s a  _ very _ rebellious idea.  An artist’s art doesn’t belong only to her patron.  It’s hers to share with whoever she chooses.  I know I may just have rocked your world but  _ you _ should be open to controversial concepts.”

“No, no, I am, very.”   _ So she’s throwing a tantrum.   _ “I have just one concern I’d like to clear up before we introduce you to the others.  How did you get here?”

“We took a ship,” Celestine said proudly.

“It’s under there,” Milky added, jerking her mitten-thumb back over her shoulder at a heap of logs and branches.  “Camouflaged.  Where  _ someone _ was supposed to stay safe while I scouted the area.”

“Yes yes yes, but if I hadn’t got out to stretch my legs I wouldn’t have met Jasper and we wouldn’t all be such good friends now, would we?  You worry too much, Milky, you’re a love but you’re a worrywart.”  Celestine patted her knee, roughly where she’d slapped it before.

“And how easy is that ship going to be to trace here?”

“Ah,” said Milky, brightening a bit.

_ “Because _ Milky is a big worrywart she took great care to confuse pursuit,” Celestine said.  “We actually changed ships a few times.  We took detours and paid shady characters to make bookings in our names in far-flung places.  We even used a highly illegal cloaking device which unfortunately caught fire a bit but  _ did _ leave a nice big gap in our trail.  It was thrilling.  Besides, who would ever think I’d want to come  _ here?   _ No offence but it’s not exactly  _ me. _  Or so they’ll think because trust me, I have led them a  _ merry _ chase.  Milky is my only real confidante, and nobody would expect  _ that,  _ either, but our friendship is our secret weapon.”  It was the first thing Lapis had heard her say that seemed to have some depth of feeling to it; well, that and her petulance about the concerts. 

“All right, the last part of that one concern of mine.  Why  _ did _ you choose to come here?”

“I want to tell everyone at once.  It’s such a good story!  It has intrigue and suspense and it’ll be so much more fun if you get to experience it all together.”

“I see.  Thank you.  Please excuse us just a moment, we need to go and have a - a quick rebel huddle.”  Lapis led Agate away to the far side of the clearing, where she bobbed down beside her again.

“What’s the plan?” she whispered.

“Instead of going up and down like a yo-yo - no, sorry, that was shaping up to be mean.  I don’t  _ want _ to cut you off when you’ve only just formed and you must want to run around and explore and discover your powers, but I  _ cannot _ be responsible for all this -”

“No, no, totally get it.  You want Jasper and Pearl.  I’ll get another chance soon, this has been great.  Hey, good luck with these weirdoes.  Let me know how it works out.”  With a last shining smile and a tremendously dorky double-fingerguns gesture Agate flared out of sight, leaving behind Jasper holding Pearl like a princess.  Of course.  They were gazing at each other with their faces an inch or so apart, flushed and bright-eyed, as if they didn’t quite know they were separate again.  Lapis was relieved to see that the transformation seemed to have taken care of Jasper’s injuries.  Somehow it had even got the pinecones out of her hair.

She cleared her throat.  “I know you’ve just shared a beautiful moment and all that but we have to talk.”

They seemed to wake up at that.  “Oh!” said Pearl, apparently just realising her feet weren’t on the ground.  Jasper tenderly set her down, and before Lapis could say anything else she dropped to her knees with a thud and threw her arms around her.  That brought tears to her eyes.  She’d got herself all set to be mature and calm about the fact that of course it wasn’t as special to Jasper to see her again as it was to see Pearl, and now she was hugging her tight against her big, warm chest and pressing her cheek against Lapis’ and whispering that she was so glad,  _ so  _ glad to have her back, and it was more sincere emotion than she could deal with just then, especially in front of someone like Celestine.

“Don’t squeeze me, I’ll fart,” she blurted, and Jasper shook with smothered, wheezy laughter while Pearl put her hands on her hips and looked exasperated by the pair of them.

“Behave, you two.”

“But it’s  _ my _ turn to have a gushy reunion with Jasper.  Just be glad we aren’t celebrating with Malachite, I think Little Miss Twinkle over there would crack from fright.”

“What is her  _ deal?” _ Jasper asked, loosening her grip a bit and sitting back on her heels.

“You’ve been in Homeworld society more recently than I have, you tell me.”

“Not in the White Court, they were snooty even in your heyday.”

“We were snootier in Blue.”  She shifted her position just to lean comfortably against Jasper’s shoulder, and Pearl stepped in to mirror her on the other side.  “We can’t just take them home to your base.”

“Oh, no, not until we have a better idea of whether we can trust them,” Pearl said.  “Let’s take them somewhere a little less recently devastated than this, then one of us will go and fetch the others for a meeting.”

Lapis nodded.  “Have anywhere in mind?”

“Strawberry battlefield?” Jasper suggested.  “Maybe let her see a little bit of what the rebellion really meant.”

“I was just going to  _ say _ that!” Pearl exclaimed.  “We’re still so in synch, don’t you feel that too?”  Some giggling and mutual forehead-rubbing  and nuzzling ensued.

“The only thing is,” Lapis said slowly, “it’s a hike back to the warp pad from here.  I don’t want to encourage them to use their ship, it can only attract more attention.  The fastest way would be flying, but I would be very skittish about forming Blue again so soon, frankly.”

“Agreed,” said Pearl firmly, “and she could only carry one or two at a time.  That’s a problem.”

“It might not be,” Jasper said.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean this might be a dud, but we’ve never tested whether Malachite can fly.”

“Are you serious?” Lapis asked, startled.

“Well, if she can, it would even be useful that she’s such a weird shape.  Pearl and those two could sit on her back.  Butt.  Whatever you call the rear end of her.”

“Are you feeling all right?  Actually, scratch that, I think you’re feeling  _ too _ good.  You’ve gone fusion-happy.  You do  _ not _ want to form Malachite.”

“But I kind of do.  Who knows when that’s going to happen again?  Unless  _ you _ really don’t want to, let’s use it while it lasts!”

_ I can’t believe today.  Jasper is  _ asking _ me to fuse with her again, it’s not a life or death emergency, and I want to say yes.  I really, really want to say yes.   _ “What does Pearl think?”

“Pearl thinks it could work,” Pearl said uncertainly.  “Always assuming Malachite  _ can _ use your wings, Lapis.  It’s an incredibly strong power, so yes, it might well be able to get a body as large as hers airborne.”

“But - but do we really want to let  _ them _ see us like that?” Lapis asked, twitching her head sideways to indicate the newcomers.  “They already think we’re a crazed pack of fusion deviants.”

Jasper gave a short bark of a laugh.  “We could show that prissy little Celestine what deviants we  _ are.   _ I mean, nothing screams deviancy like Malachite.”

“I know she looks a bit… outlandish but you’re both talking about Malachite as if she’s  _ monstrous, _ and she’s really not,” Pearl said, frowning.  To both their puzzled looks, she protested, “She’s not!  I mean, from the waist up she’s really very beautiful!  She was frightening because she was aggressive, but both of  _ you _ are frightening when you’re aggressive.”

“From the waist up, she’s beautiful,” Jasper repeated.  “Pearl, you’re weird.”

“Well, I think she is!  My opinion should count for something.  Oh.   _ And,”  _ Pearl went on, in the very arch tone that meant she thought she had come up with a particularly witty joke, “from the waist  _ down, _ she’s  _ handsome.” _

“What do you mean?” Lapis asked, crinkling her nose.

“Handsome -  _ hand _ some - she has a lot of hands, I’m just trying to lighten the mood!”  Pearl folded her arms and pouted, but then a guilty look crept over her face.  “Perhaps she really isn’t something I can joke about.  Was I being insensitive?”

Lapis had been trying to bite her lips together, and her laughter still escaped through her nose.  “That was the most horrible pun I have ever heard you make, and I was there when you got out of bed at 4.30 am and said ‘The Pearly bird catches the worm.’”

Jasper had been doing a better job keeping a straight face but she almost choked at that point and stuffed most of her fist in her mouth until she could compose herself.

“You’re both being very strange,” Pearl said, her own lips twitching.

“We agreed once we wouldn’t laugh if you did puns,” Jasper explained, wiping her eyes, “because your puns are  _ so bad,  _ but now I’m laughing at Lapis trying not to laugh.”

“You two have no appreciation for wordplay,” Pearl said, making a valiant effort to sound cross.  “Here’s something more your speed.”  She produced the world’s tiniest, primmest raspberry and they had to lean against each other, giggling helplessly while she smirked to herself.

“We’re making each other worse,” Lapis said when she had caught her breath, her voice still shaky, “and they’re waiting over there - oh, but I’m  _ so _ glad we’re all together again.  Just - okay, Jasper, are you really sure you want to try this?  I will if you will.”

“As Amethyst might say, let’s go freak out the squares,” Jasper said.  She got up and offered Lapis her hand.  As invitations to dance went it was unconventional, but it beat the hell out of that horrible “just say yes.”

“We’ll be the freakiest,” she said firmly, and took it.

 

Pearl stood back with her hands tightly clasped as they stepped away from her.  She  _ wanted _ to encourage them to do this,  _ wanted _ it to be a good experience for them, something sweet to take away the sour taste of the first time, even if they were both being very deprecating about the whole idea, but she could feel a cold sweat of anxiety breaking out under her arms and down the middle of her back.   _ That _ had been a beautiful moment just now, her two wonderful girls leaning together helpless with laughter, something perfectly sweet that was holding a lot of very sour thoughts at bay just now.   _ Please just go well,  _ she silently beseeched the imminent Malachite.   _ And don’t be jealous or afraid,  _ she begged herself.   _ You can still feel how much they both love you.  Blue Opal and Agate were both formed from love.  Just imagine the kind of love Jasper feels to become so fearless about something she used to dread.    _

They moved together, and she was interested and relieved to see that they chose a different step from that terrible night on the beach.  Jasper put her hands carefully on Lapis’ small hips from behind and lifted her as she spun around, Lapis’ arm sweeping up to touch Jasper’s face just as they blurred together in a glow that expanded into Malachite’s massive form.  She was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling, but there was nothing alarming in her eyes as far as Pearl could see.  She turned - it really was remarkable to see how her strange limbs worked together - and bent to offer Pearl her hands, cupped together.  “Would you like a lift over there?” she asked.  “They - we - want me to treat you special.”

“Thank you, Malachite.”  Carefully, Pearl sat down in the cup of her hands.  It was rather pleasing to be carried over there like a queen on a litter.  Celestine and Milky were staring at the pair of them in utter amazement.

“Are you a  _ Pearl?” _ Celestine asked incredulously.

“No,” said Malachite and snorted.

“Yes,” Pearl said, “but I’m probably quite different from the Pearls you know.”

“I’ll say, my Pearl is  _ useless.   _ She can’t even organise my calendar, let alone  _ tame giant beasts.” _

Pearl felt a moment’s intense solidarity with whatever unappreciated Pearl was probably being faced with some very difficult questions far away.   _ Be patient, _ she told herself.   _ Remember how awful Peridot and Jasper were when they got here.   _ “Malachite isn’t a beast,” she said, “she’s a fusion.  You need to get used to the idea that some fusions look very different from single Gems.  I understand this is new to you, but I want  _ you _ to understand from now on that I don’t ever want to hear you call one of our fusions a beast or anything of that kind.  They’re Gems and they are a very important part of our team.  They have special abilities.”

“For example,” said Malachite proudly, and Pearl felt a lurch and clutched at Malachite’s thumb, sure for a moment that they were going to thump humiliatingly back to earth, but vast water wings were spreading out from her smooth green back and she was beating her way skyward.

“Very good!” Pearl said, trying to sound encouraging while hanging on for dear life.  “Aren’t you going a little high?”

“Got to impress them,” Malachite said.  She closed her hands around Pearl, holding her securely to her chest, and to her astonishment and consternation, did a barrel roll.  She made the mistake of looking down and saw two upturned white faces with gaping eyes and mouths.

“They’re very impressed!  Very!  You can land now!”

“Roger.”  Malachite descended gently, settling herself four-square in front of Celestine and Milky, and lowered her hands to present Pearl to them again.  She was happy enough to just sit there; she  _ liked _ flying but she also liked  _ warning _ before flying happened, let alone aerobatics, and she wasn’t sure her legs would co-operate.  

“You see?” she said grandly.  “This is how we’re going to transport you to the nearest convenient warp pad.”

“Hop on,” Malachite said, turning around and lowering her hindquarters, folding her hind arms underneath her.  “Air Malachite is now boarding.”

“Is that all  _ you?”  _ Celestine asked, almost indignantly.

“Yes.”  Malachite looked at her over her shoulder with a trace of irritation.  “Who else is it going to be?”

“Wait a moment,” said Milky.  She shuffled Celestine gently off her knee and strode over to inspect the back end of Malachite.  “No safety gear,” she muttered, patting it down firmly as if to make sure she was really solid.

“You haven’t even told me I’m pretty,” Malachite growled.

“What?” Milky asked suspiciously.  “I have to check.”

“It’ll be  _ fine,”  _ Celestine said, wriggling past Milky’s bulk and scrambling up onto Malachite’s back, bouncing her ruffled bottom.  “This is an  _ adventure.” _

_ “Wait,”  _ said Milky, clambering up after her.

“Oof,” said Malachite, buckling a little under her weight but rallying.  “All set back there?”

_ “Wait,”  _ Milky repeated doggedly.  She pushed Celestine as close to Malachite’s waist as she could go, despite her complaints that she wouldn’t be able to see anything but a big green  _ back,  _ then scooted up tight behind her and wrapped her arms around Malachite’s waist with grim determination.  “Okay.  Go.”

“Milky,” said Celestine, muffled, “you’re  _ squishing _ me.”

“No I’m not.”

“You’ll feel terrible if I poof.”

“No I won’t.  I’ll just put you in my pocket and keep you safe,” Milky said calmly.

“The rules of flying on me are one, no fighting back there,” Malachite announced.  “Two, you can hold onto my waist but otherwise keep your hands to yourself.  Three, do  _ not _ pull my hair.”  She pushed up with four strong arms and her posterior rose with a lurch that made Milky dig her knees into her flanks and Celestine squeal.  “You okay, Pearl?  Comfy?”

“Yes, thank you,” Pearl said.  She would have been happier with the whole thing if there had been seatbelts, but Malachite could hardly be expected to provide those impromptu.  Perhaps for next time Lapis and Jasper could come up with something; straps and buckles in the clothing?

“Good,” said Malachite, sinking low for a moment and then pushing herself up into the air with a grunt.  Pearl could feel how much more of an effort it was for her with the added weight, but she could also feel how breathtakingly strong she was as they rose into the sky in a series of surges with the beat of her wings.  In the rear Celestine was complaining that Milky wasn’t letting her  _ see _ anything; Milky’s response was harder to make out but seemed to be a soothing rumble.  As a fellow worrywart Pearl was rather impressed; she knew she only got shriller the more alarmed she was.  You couldn’t say Milky’s knuckles were white as she gripped Malachite’s sides, because they would be white anyway, but she was holding on tightly, her fingers pressing deep dents into the skin, and it looked painful for Malachite.  Pearl tried to give Malachite’s arm an encouraging rub and to appreciate the view from here, which was glorious.  She could already see the warp pad glinting in the sunshine and it almost seemed too soon.

Maybe not for Malachite, though; even if it was only the effort of flying with passengers, or the discomfort of being held in a vice grip by a particularly strong and tenacious Quartz, her face looked strained, the corners of her mouth tight.  She sighed with relief as she put down beside the warp pad and folded her wings away, sinking onto her belly so the passengers could climb down.  

“Did I do good?” she asked Pearl earnestly, lowering her cupped hands to the ground.  Both sets of eyes were fixed on her hopefully.  

“You did  _ well,” _ Pearl said reflexively, and then hastily amended it to “Wonderfully well!  I was proud of you.  I wouldn’t have believed it was your first try if I hadn’t known.”

“First try?” Milky echoed, freezing in the middle of lifting Celestine down.

“Hah.  Yeah, you just accepted a lift from a first-time flier,” Malachite said, flashing a quick V-sign.  “And gigantic fuck-up, but we’re working on it.”  Her upper pair of eyes briefly crossed, her body flickered and she said “Whoops” before dissipating.

“What.”  Milky was still motionless holding Celestine under her arms, a sort of parallel to Jasper’s position with Lapis, and nobody looked comfortable.

“Sorry,” Jasper said.  “I couldn’t hold it any longer.”

“No, neither could I,” Lapis said, hopping down awkwardly and brushing off her skirt.  “That’s not your fault.  I’m really tired.”

“You shouldn’t let her talk about herself like that,” Pearl said in dismay.

“Oh,” said Jasper sheepishly.  “Sorry about the language.”

“It’s the sentiment, not the words.”

“She’s just being honest,” Lapis said, shrugging.  “She  _ was _ a huge mistake.  Like she said, we’re working on it.  To me that sounded positive.”

“What kind of operation are you people running here?” Milky demanded, still holding Celestine as if unwilling to allow her any further contact with the planet’s surface.

“An improvised one?” Jasper said, scratching her head.  “Look, you’re not seeing us on a good day.”

_ “I’m _ having a good day,” Pearl protested.  “All right, we’re a little bit disorganised.  Things have been hectic.”

“Rebels thrive on chaos,” Celestine said with the air of an expert.  

With a heroic effort, Pearl refrained from retorting that she did  _ not.   _ She was tumbling between desperately needing to talk about a thing or two with both Lapis and Jasper and feeling that it was a very bad idea to show any kind of disunity or vulnerability in front of the strangers.  It upset her to think that they’d get a bad impression of what Rose had started, that they might think less of Rose herself because of the reduced circumstances her rebellion had ended up in, that they might think poorly of Lapis and Jasper because they met them when they were tired and emotional, and that was entirely apart from the obvious fact that she didn’t yet know whether the newcomers were trustworthy people who could become their allies, even part of their family, or a new threat that simply arrived under a friendly flag.

She found she  _ wanted _ to like Milky Quartz, even allowing for her own embarrassing predisposition to like anyone so huge and gorgeous.  There was something funny about one of her eyes, but apart from that she was just stunning. At least there were also sensible, non-concupiscent reasons to feel warmly towards her, like her earnest, quiet, protective manner that was intriguingly unusual for a Quartz.   _ I should probably be more offended about the fact that she almost poofed Jasper, but I’m more interested in the way her aggression towards her completely dropped as soon as she didn’t see her as a threat to Celestine any more.  Is Milky Quartz Celestine’s knight? _

She felt a lot less warmly towards Celestine, who so far struck her as a vapid dilettante, but perhaps there was much more to her if she could inspire that sort of devotion.  There had been something about giving concerts, hadn’t there?  She did have a beautiful voice.

“There is an enormous amount you can’t possibly know about our situation,” she said, carefully.  “You’re not to blame for that, because you could only know if you’d  _ been _ here, but it would really help both of us if you refrained from making assumptions.  We’ll explain everything to you as soon as we can, but there’s a  _ lot _ to explain.”   _ And I don’t want to explain anything to you at all at the moment, I want to go home with Lapis and Jasper and make love and have a good cry, probably in that order.  No, go home, make sure Steven is all right and knows I’m all right, then privacy and ad lib the rest.  I  _ must _ be tired. _

“What we’re going to do,” Jasper said, stepping up, to Pearl’s relief, “is take you to a meeting place, then bring the others over to talk.  We’d be pretty stupid to take you straight to our base before we get to know each other a little.”

“Agreed,” said Milky Quartz sternly.

“Also, I know you’re looking at me now wondering why I don’t do more of the talking, why I’m not giving orders, and it’s because things work differently here and Pearl is - senior to me.”

“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” said Lapis.

“Wait, your  _ Pearl’s _ in charge?” Celestine asked.  “Milky, if you don’t put me down I’ll scream.”

“Just being careful,” Milky said, gently lowering her.  

“She’s not  _ my _ Pearl,” Jasper said, looking embarrassed, “not the way you mean.”

“But seriously?  A Pearl is senior to a Jasper, and a Lapis Lazuli is - what - just sort of hanging around with them?  Okay!  How delightfully offbeat.  Where are you taking us?  Is it nice?  Is there anything else shocking and outré I should be prepared to see?”

Celestine was sort of prancing coquettishly towards Jasper as she fired questions at her, and Jasper was standing her ground but unconsciously drawing her head back as if she hoped she could withdraw into a shell like a turtle, and Lapis was laughing behind her hand at Jasper’s face, and Pearl realised that she had lost control of the situation, if she’d ever had it.

_ “That’s  _ it everybody on the warp pad  _ move move move _ yes I mean you Jasper pull yourself together Lapis she won’t  _ break _ if you let her step up on a warp pad by herself now you get up there too chop chop  _ that’s better!” _  She stamped up onto the pad amongst them and warped them all off to the strawberry battlefield; the only relief she felt about that kerfuffle was that she hadn’t had to resort to using her lance as a sort of cattle prod.   _ “Here _ we are everybody off no dawdling watch your step - thank you, Jasper.”  She accepted a hand down from the platform, her cheeks burning, with no idea whether she’d reclaimed the situation or just flown embarrassingly off the handle.

“Well!” Celestine said, beaming, “you  _ are _ an unusual Pearl!  I feel quite flustered.  Feel that, Milky, I’m trembling.”  She stuck out one dainty hand, evidently expecting Milky to take it and fuss over it, but she only looked embarrassed and then stubborn.  Celestine paused fractionally, as if realising backup was not forthcoming, took a deep breath and turned around, surveying the landscape.  “Was there a battle here?”

“Several,” said Pearl.  “I fought here and so did Jasper, on different sides.”

“It would be satisfying, but it seemed like too much of a coincidence to hope for.  Are you the same Jasper who was recently sent here escorting a technician and an informant?  Because they don’t know what’s happened to you.  I would enjoy knowing that I know what they don’t know.”

“Yes,” Jasper said, glancing at Lapis uneasily.  “I’d like to know how  _ you _ know, because it was a secret mission.”

“Really and truly?” Celestine swung back around, beaming, and the more subdued, thoughtful tone her voice had taken on was gone.  “So you’re  _ that _ Jasper, sent on  _ that _ mission, and they’ve just completely and totally seduced and suborned you?”

“No!” Jasper protested.  “I mean it’s more complicated than that.  And you make it sound so skeezy.”

“Did you know the technician went  _ crazy?” _ Celestine asked gleefully.  “She contacted Yellow Diamond raving like a maniac.  She was  _ furious. _  But I’ve said too much - this is all part of my wonderful story.  Who’s going to get the others?”

“Including the crazy technician?” Lapis asked, deadpan.  

“You’ve  _ got _ her?” 

“We haven’t  _ got _ her, she’s our friend,” Pearl said firmly.  “Calling her crazy will win  _ you _ about as many friends as calling Malachite a beast.”

“Noted,” Celestine said.  “I do want to make friends.”

“Right.  Excuse us, rebel huddle.”  She towed Lapis and Jasper over to the shelter of a bramble bush.  “What do you want to do next?” she whispered.

“Both of you should go home,” Jasper said, crouching down.  “Everyone will feel better if you show up together, and I can handle things here.”

“Are you sure?  It looks like Celestine’s going to eat you alive,” said Lapis.  “Gradually.  By nibbling.”

“I don’t think Milky Quartz will let her put things she just picked up in her mouth so I’m fine.  Go on.  Everyone’ll hug you into the ground and then you can come back.  Besides, I’m pretty sure phones work from here so I can call Steven or Peridot if anything goes wrong.”  She dug in her pocket for her phone.  “Wow.  I  know Greg said he’d get me one of those really strong cases for extreme sports lunatics but I didn’t realise it would actually survive all that pounding.  I could write them a testimonial.”

“My question is, where  _ was _ the phone when you were part of Agate and then part of Malachite?” Lapis asked, frowning.

“That question is above my pay grade.  Yep!  I have two bars, it’s not great but I can get through if I need to.”  She looked from Lapis to Pearl.  “Seriously, go.  You know everyone’s missing you like crazy - I mean, you can remember Blue’s memories like she can remember yours, right?  That’s not still cut off?”

“Oh no, we remember everything.”

“I figured, with you quoting Starchy at me - Blue loved that joke.”

“We should talk about all of that later,” Pearl said quickly.  “There’s nothing I want more at the moment than to talk it all over but this has to come first; we can’t just leave them wandering around.”  She craned around Jasper’s shoulder to see what they were up to; Celestine had talked Milky into letting her stand on her shoulders for a better view of the scenery and they were slowly revolving to take in the panorama.

“Celestine does all the talking but I want to know more about Milky,” Lapis said.  “Jasper, you should see what you can get out of her while we’re gone.  One Quartz to another, all that camaraderie nonsense.”

“I can try, but she seems pretty shy.”

“That’s why I want to know more!  That’s so weird for a Quartz.”

“It  _ is _ very unusual,” Pearl agreed.  “All right, if you’re sure.  But we’ll be back just as soon as we can.”  She quickly put her arms around Jasper’s neck and hugged her, burying her face in her hair and breathing in deeply, then stepped back, took Lapis’ hand and hurried to the warp pad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel it's so important that I specify this: Milky Quartz's cheekbones are like Daniel Dae Kim's. Imagine her however else you want but that is iron-clad.  
> Also, Celestine looks like one of the cuter but more annoying/useless Clow Cards. Think of a cross between The Glow and The Sweet.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SO MUCH TALKING AND INFODUMPING.

Jasper turned back and strolled over to Milky Quartz and Celestine, stopping beside Milky and standing comfortably with her arms folded..  

“You’re what, an arena fighter?” she asked.  It should have been the easiest way in the world to get a Quartz to start talking about herself, but Milky just looked at her feet.  “I was military,” she offered.  “Never followed that side of things all that closely, but I fought in some exhibition bouts, and of course we used the arenas for training.”

“Mmhm,” said Milky.

“She doesn’t do that any more, and she doesn’t like to talk about it,” Celestine said, clambering partway down to sit on Milky’s broad shoulders, flattening down her crest of hair to rest her chin on her folded arms atop Milky’s head.

“Oh,” Jasper said, nonplussed.  “How’d you get into bodyguard work?  I’ve done a little of that too.”

“Oh sweetie,” said Celestine, “it’s not your fault but you are asking  _ all _ the wrong questions.  Talk to me, I love to talk.  Nothing can stop me, actually.  Talk talk talk talk.  But if you engineer a Gem for her voice, what can you expect?  Some sort of  _ not _ talking?  That’s just silly.  I am  _ so _ curious about how you ended up joining the rebels.  Had you always harboured doubts?  Did you have seditious tendencies?  I’m just  _ popping _ with seditious tendencies.  Tell her, Milky.”

“Popping,” Milky murmured, her eyes still downcast.

“It’s… a long story and it involves some personal stuff about someone else.  I want to talk to her before I tell it to you, just to make sure I’m not overstepping.”

“Oh?  That only piques my interest more, but I guess I’m holding out on you too.  Do you think it was a good idea for the other two to leave you alone with wicked little me and big bad Milky?”

“I’m not worried.”

Milky lifted her head.  “Should be,” she said, steadily.  

“Because of before?  You were kicking my butt, it’s true.  I have no problem admitting that.  You’re better at fighting among a lot of obstacles than I am.  Out here with a lot of clear space, that advantage is gone.  I’ve fought here before, I know the terrain, and I know a bit about what you’re capable of too.  It wouldn’t be easy but I know I could take you.”

Milky gave a small nod.  “Probably.  Depends which of us gets tired or lucky first.”

“You have nothing to fight about, you big sillies,” Celestine said.  “Do you think they’ll be gone long?  Are they going to bring  _ everyone _ or just the top brass?”

“Top brass,” Jasper said.  Let her think there were lots of them for now.  It would technically be true as long as they didn’t bring Chalcedony.

“I’m so sad we don’t get to meet the notorious Rose Quartz,” Celestine sighed, idly curling tufts of Milky’s hair around her fingers.  

“I know.  I was disappointed too.  Listen, I should try to explain something about that.  It’s super weird and it took me a while to get it myself, but - I’ll just try to explain it.  You know this planet has intelligent indigenous life?”

“I suppose it has to, to have all that ugly construction on it.  We picked a landing spot away from all that both for discretion and for aesthetic reasons.”

“Okay, they’re called humans, they’re bipeds, some of ‘em look a bit like Gems but others look pretty different, they come in a smaller range of colours and sizes than we do but on the other hand they’ve got more genders and stuff.  They’re corporeal and carbon-based and they live about a hundred years tops.  That’s the basics.”  She paused, trying to think of how to move on.  “So you’re going to meet a member of our group who is half a Gem and half a human,  _ sort _ of like a fusion but  _ not,  _ because, you know, not two Gems, and also permanently like that, not able to defuse.  And this Gem is  _ not _ Rose Quartz but  _ does _ have Rose Quartz’s gemstone.  You follow?”

“Not remotely.  Your gemstone makes you who you are, so how is she not Rose Quartz?” Celestine asked with a little laugh.

“That’s the  _ thing.   _ Okay, one, he’s a  _ he.  _  He’s called Steven, it’s a human name.  Two, it’s like… the gemstone is part of him, but it’s not all of him.  And it means he has Rose Quartz’s powers, but he doesn’t have any of her memories.  And  _ she,  _ Rose Quartz, her physical form is gone, that energy went into creating  _ him  _ together with some kind of biological input I don’t wanna think too hard about from his human parent _ ,  _ and… the rest of her, the memory and personality, it’s just gone, I guess, or it’s somewhere else.  I still don’t totally understand how it works but I’m just trying to prep you with the basic idea, Steven and Rose Quartz are  _ related  _ but Steven and Rose Quartz are not the same  _ person.” _

Celestine and Milky’s very different faces showed identical dubious expressions.

“O-kayyy,” said Milky.

“That sounds pretty made up,” Celestine said.  “I mean, I take it from how uncomfortable you look that you  _ know _ that.”

“If I was going to make something up it would be more believable than that.  It may make more sense when you meet him, I don’t know.  I’m just trying to make sure you don’t go into it blind and get as confused as I did.”

“Do you have any other members of your group who are likely to confuse us?”

“Oh hell yes.  Garnet’s a fusion full time, Amethyst was overcooked in Kindergarten and she’s shorter than you, and Peridot’s… a handful.  Plus there’s the fact Pearl is a warrior and an engineer.  We have a lion and it’s pink.  And then there’s Connie but she’s all human and she’s just fantastic, you should really like Connie.”

_ “And _ an engineer?  Really or just playing?  Like the real engineers let her tidy up their tools and… polish the engines or something?”

“No, really an engineer.  Pearl is incredible.  She can do practically anything technical and you saw how pretty she is and you should hear her  _ sing _ and see her  _ dance _ and she’s so  _ funny _ and she has a completely insane weapons collection and - and she’s great, and I love her.”  She was honestly surprised at how hard it was to make herself say that, knowing how it would make her sound to them.  They already knew she was a Crystal Gem and had seen her form two cross-gem fusions in a row today and she  _ still _ felt ashamed to tell normal people she was in love with Pearl - and to realise that she still thought Gems with Homeworld standards were “normal people” and her friends now weren’t.  

“This is another thing you’ve got to know.  There’s no Diamond here.  There’s no rules about who you’re supposed to love.  You can pick your own friends, and if there’s someone you specially love and they specially love you, that’s okay.  That’s actually normal and everyone’ll be happy for you.  It doesn’t even matter if they’re a totally different kind of Gem.  You’ll have to get used to it.  But - you should be open to controversial concepts, right?”  She waited, silently begging them to say something, even if it was “That’s disgusting,” as long as someone said  _ something. _

“So… you’re also a member of your group who’s likely to confuse us,” Milky said eventually.

“Maybe.  I guess.  But I love Pearl and I’m really lucky because she loves me too.”  Time enough to try to explain Lapis later.

“I mean… I know Gems who have a  _ thing _ about Pearls,” Celestine said, raising one eyebrow.  

“Not like that.  It’s about  _ her. _  She  _ is _ a Pearl, yeah, but she’s  _ Pearl,  _ if that makes any sense.”

“Good, because they’re so creepy.  Anyway, you seem to think all this is going to scandalise us, but have you looked at who you’re talking to?  We’re runaways, we’re a courtier and a warrior, there’s no one I trust more than Milky and she’d do anything for me.  You could put two and two together.”  She reached down and patted Milky’s cheek fondly.

“Oh!”  Light dawned and she felt both stupid and relieved.  “Oh, hey, congratulations!  I didn’t even - I mean, I think it’s amazing that you figured out you wanted to be together living on Homeworld, that’s incredibly brave.  I couldn’t have done that, I was so indoctrinated and scared of my feelings.”

“So it will be okay to tell everyone we’re friends?” Milky asked, sounding hopeful and doubtful in equal parts.

“Well, you sort of already did.  I mean, Celestine did.  You said something about your friendship being your secret weapon, right?  I actually thought you were telling me now you’re, you know, more than friends.  In love with each other.”

Milky’s whole face and her bull neck flushed silver-grey, and Celestine bubbled over with laughter.

“No?  Okay, sorry, misunderstanding.”

“I think I also told you Milky’s not that adventurous!”

Milky looked pretty mortified, staring at her feet again, biting her lip.  

“Milky?” Jasper said, trying out her name.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything.  If you were that would be fine but if you’re not that’s fine too.  Just the fact that you  _ are _ best friends is amazing.”

“See, precious silly soft Milky?” Celestine said, reaching with both hands to rub her face and push her cheeks in around her mouth.  “You’re scandalous and transgressive just the way you are.  You don’t have to be the  _ most  _ bad to be bad in good standing!”  That looked to be making the mortification worse; Milky stood there steadfastly holding Celestine’s ankles so she wouldn’t slip off her shoulders but looking as if she would rather vanish down a hole.  Jasper wanted to tell Celestine to shut up, but it didn’t seem like her place, especially when she’d just misunderstood their relationship once already.

“Well, it’s not bad,” she protested.  “None of it’s bad.  They just want you to feel bad about it so you’ll only focus on what you can do for your Diamond.  That’s what bugs me about it, because there’s nothing wrong with looking up to someone and wanting to serve her, but if she keeps telling you that’s all you should ever want or else there’s something wrong with you, it’s really messed up.  I couldn’t see that till I’d been here a while and my perspective changed on a lot of things.  That’s probably going to happen to you too, and it feels really weird and at first not good at all, but then it’s a huge relief.  There’s a lot to get used to here.”

“You’re so  _ earnest.   _ Just like Milky!  She’s so easy to tease because she takes everything seriously.  Anyway, we’ve already freed ourselves from all  _ that _ sort of thing.  As far as I’m concerned White Diamond can take a running jump.”

_ “Celestine,” _ Milky hissed.

“Nobody can hear us!  I can’t believe you’re still worrying about this!  We’re in the middle of nowhere with a  _ brazen  _ Crystal Gem who hops in and out of fusions like she’s changing clothes and just told us she’s in love with her Pearl, and you think, what, there are spies lurking behind the bushes?  ATTENTION, PLEASE, HOMEWORLD SPIES,” she declaimed, projecting her voice hugely.  “I, the lovely Celestine, think White Diamond is a mean old bag and I don’t care who knows it.  My companion Milky Quartz, on the other hand, would like it known that she sometimes has doubts about the correctness of some of her decisions but doesn’t want to make any waves about it and would really rather just pretend nothing is wrong.  Please write all that down and transmit it directly to central information processing.  Thank youuuu!”

“You know I don’t think that,” Milky mumbled.  “It’s just such a habit.  I was always  _ worried _ about you.”

“Well, you don’t need to be any more!  I’ve just  _ said.   _ This is what we’ve  _ come _ here for.”

“But habits take a while to change,” Jasper pointed out.  “Look, I came here sure Yellow Diamond was right about everything, and I really had to get broken down by a  _ lot _ of things going wrong before I was ready to think about anything else.  It’s taken forever.  It’s still happening.  Talking to you now I’m embarrassed to say some of the things I do, and  _ that’s _ just my old habits.  Not everyone can just shake off the past and say hooray, you know.”  She paused, regrouping.  “And she’s not  _ my _ Pearl.  She’s never belonged to me.  I’ve never owned a Pearl in the first place - not that that’s any big credit to me, it was because I didn’t want to look soft, not because I thought Pearls should belong to themselves.  And another thing,” she said quickly, because it looked as if Celestine was getting ready to share some opinions about Pearls, “you’re really getting the wrong idea about me and fusion, okay?  What you saw today was the third and fourth time I’ve done cross-Gem fusion  _ in my life,  _ and Agate was brand new.  So I don’t just hop in and out.  Today was special.”

“Did we... interrupt something?” Milky asked.

“Um… sort of, but it’s okay.  You being there helped in a way, we were at a stalemate and it took something different to shake things loose.  But that’s another story I can’t really tell you yet because it’s not all my business.  But yeah.  Today has been... crazy but special.”

“I don’t know whether I’m disappointed that it’s out of the ordinary or relieved that things apparently aren’t always this  _ energetic,” _ Celestine said.  “I want to get down now, please.”

“Have you two ever…?” Jasper asked as Milky crouched down and bowed her head to the ground so Celestine could dismount.

“Oh no!”  She hopped clear of Milky’s shoulders.

“That would be  _ very _ dangerous,” Milky said, lifting her head quickly.  “I’d never have let her risk it.”

“Yeah, true.  There’s being bold and rebellious and there’s being a reckless dumbass, right?  But it’s safe to try here if you ever do want to.  You don’t have to either, it’s not compulsory or an initiation test or anything.  I’m just saying it’s up to you because you’re probably not used to things  _ being _ up to you.”

“I wish they’d hurry  _ up!” _ Celestine exclaimed.  “What’s taking so long?”

“It could take a while to get everyone together,” Jasper said, shrugging.  “I’ll check in.”  She sat down beside Milky, got her phone out and started tapping in a text with her pinky.

“What’s  _ that?” _

“Local comm device.  Not that easy to operate with my size hands.  You can get a stylus for them but I kept losing it.”  She tapped send and held out the screen for Celestine to see.

“HEY STEVEN HOWS EVERYTHING YOU HOME?” Celestine read aloud.  She blinked when a moment later the phone blipped and a reply appeared.  “Omguh,” she said.  “What’s an omguh?”

“O-M-G, means he’s excited.”  The phone blipped again.

“Now it’s pictures of stars and flowers and… pink things with pointy bottoms and bumpy tops.”

“Those are love hearts.”

“‘They’re home yay we love you Jasper,’” Celestine read.  “Why is he  _ that _ excited and starry about Pearl and Lapis Lazuli going home?”

“They were away for a while and he missed them.  He’s an affectionate kid.”  She turned the phone back towards herself, suddenly thinking that the next message might not be something she wanted Celestine to read to herself.  “I’m just asking if they’re coming over soon,” she explained, tapping.  Steven’s reply popped back quickly, and after a quick look she presented it to them.

“‘Yes so excite.’  Well, that seems appropriate; people  _ are _ usually ‘excite’ about meeting me.”  Celestine turned back to Milky Quartz.  “But I’m bored with waiting.  We should have brought our things from the ship.  Shall we go back quickly and get them now?”

“Nope, we stay put,” said Jasper.

“I wasn’t asking you.”

“I say nope too,” said Milky.  “If they turn up and we’re not here, we look bad.  Unreliable.  Or they get worried for nothing.”

“But we could leave them a message.”

“Why complicate the plan?  Just sit down and wait.  I thought you didn’t want things to be that energetic all the time,” Jasper said.  “You could… I don’t know, make daisy chains.”

“What’s that?”  Celestine asked, flopping down with a weary sigh.

“Okay, you see these little white flowers with yellow middles growing in the grass?  Those are daisies.  I can’t do this because my hands are big but yours should be perfect.  Pick a couple of them with at least a couple of inches of stem.  Those are good.  Now you take one and you use the edge of your thumbnail to poke a little slit  _ through _ the stem.  No, not across it, in line with it.  Yeah, just like that.  Now you press it open and you poke the stem of the other daisy through it, and you pull it through till the flower head stops it.  And  _ now _ you make a slit in the stem of  _ that _ one and you poke  _ another _ daisy through it.”

“Oh, I see.  But why am I doing this?”

“If you make the chain long enough you can make yourself bracelets or a necklace or a crown for your head.  I never promised you sophisticated entertainment.  We’re in a field.”

“I could decorate Milky!” Celestine exclaimed, her eyes lighting up.  Over the top of her head Milky gave Jasper an old-fashioned look.

 

When Pearl and Lapis Lazuli arrived on the home pad no one seemed to be around.  

“Hello?” Pearl called out.  “Is anyone home?”

“Well, this is an anticlimax,” said Lapis, just as the screen door was slammed open and Steven hurtled in from outside.

_ “Pearl!” _ he yelled and leapt into her arms.  She fell on her bottom, laughing and hugging him.  

“Oh, you’re getting too big to pounce on me like that!”

“I’m so glad you’re back!”

“And I’m so glad to see you with my own eyes.”  She pressed her hands to his cheeks and rubbed her forehead against his.  “I’m sorry it took us so long.”

“And Lapis!”  He lunged over and hugged her around the legs with one arm, hanging onto Pearl with the other.  

“Whoa!”  Lapis fell across both of them, caught herself on Steven’s shoulder and hugged them both, which was slightly complicated but satisfying.  “Sorry we worried you.  It’s been  _ so _ weird.  We both tried every way we could think of to separate, but there was this  _ split _ that meant Blue had to get her mind right first, and she was all over the place.”

“Hey, where’s Jasper?”

“She stayed behind because - well, it’s complicated, and we’d better gather everyone together before we explain.”

“Is she okay?”

“Oh, yes!  Yes, she’s perfectly fine, but something unexpected has come up.”

It took a while to get everyone assembled, since Peridot and Amethyst had gone into town to see Vidalia and Steven wanted to get hold of Connie, and Lapis was beginning to wonder if Jasper would cope by herself.  She wasn’t exactly a diplomat.  Hopefully she wouldn’t actually get into a fistfight.

Steven must have been thinking along diplomatic lines too.  “This is our first time welcoming friendly new Gems!” he exclaimed.  “Do you think we should take them a cake or something?”

“They might like to try it,” Pearl said doubtfully, “but remember Gems don’t really associate celebrations with food.”

“It would have to just be like a pyramid of doughnuts anyway,” he said, shrugging.  “We don’t have time to make a welcome banner before Connie gets dropped off either.  Oh!  Mom’s banner!  Hold still, Lion!”  He lunged over into Lion’s mane and rummaged around until he dragged out the flagstaff with the rose flag attached.  “We should definitely carry this.  Pearl, would you do the honours?”

“Oh, Steven.  Yes!  I’d be proud to.”

“I wonder if I should put a bow on Lion.  Or a bow on me.  Hey, do I look all right?  Should I be wearing shoes or something?

“Shoes are for squares,” Lapis said.  She was getting tired of waiting for everyone and had flopped herself onto the couch with her legs dangling off the end, but she lifted one bare foot to wave at Steven.

“Shoes are  _ optional,”  _ said Pearl, cradling the flag in her arms, “but if you want to look your best you can always comb your hair and brush your teeth, and I could quickly iron that nice shirt Connie got for your birthday.”

“It already doesn’t fit again,” Steven said, smiling ruefully.  “Anyway, no star - but I’ll do the hair and the teeth.”

Peridot and Amethyst arrived home, carried one under each arm by Garnet for maximum efficiency.  “Let me down,” Peridot was protesting.  “I need to choose my  _ outfit.” _

“All right,” said Garnet, setting her down, “but don’t go over the top.  They should be impressed by you, not by your clothes.”

“Well, that’s a nice thought, but you haven’t seen what I’ve got in mind.”  She grabbed Amethyst’s hand and towed her away into the Temple.

“I’m afraid whatever she wears Celestine is going to make fun of her,” Lapis said to the ceiling.  “I know her type.  I  _ was _ her type for a while when I was a lot younger.”  It was the nearest she’d come to alluding to what she’d really been like at court in Pearl’s presence, and she did it only very cautiously.  Her frivolous period had been obnoxious but it wasn’t anything like as destructive as she’d been once she got more serious.

“Do you mean romantic type, or…” Pearl tilted her head quizzically.

“I mean I was the same type as her.  You can tell she’s a favourite, a pretty little trinket who makes her Diamond look good.  You  _ do _ sometimes get someone like that who’s just unspoiled and happy to be there, but either they don’t stay that way or they don’t last long.  You know, I just realised how fond I’ve really grown of Peridot.  If Celestine is mean to her I’m really going to be quite angry.”

“Well, just you keep that anger under control,” Garnet said.  “I don’t see any good outcomes from losing your temper.”  Even though she was warning her, her voice sounded warmer than Lapis thought she had any right to expect.  Probably because she’d voiced a protective sentiment.  At the same time, she knew she was only feeling protective of Peridot because she saw all the things about her that Celestine would make fun of; protectiveness was only just overriding embarrassment at what a weird little goblin Peridot was.   _ Well, she’s  _ my _ weird little goblin now - at least, I have a part stake in her - and I will defend her weirdness and goblinosity even if she wears her Pierre cosplay. _

A thought occurred to her.  Pearl was fussing over the flag, trying to invisibly mend a new little tear in it, so she wasn’t paying attention to anything else.  Lapis quietly got up and went to tap at the bathroom door.  “Steven?  Do you need privacy in there or can I come in?”

“Mo, you cang cung ing, I jush brushingy keef,” he said, opening the door.

“Thanks.  I wanted to check something with you.  Well, and use you as a visual reference.”  She took a careful look at his shirt, then went over to the mirror and focused on a small but important change.  She turned to show him.  “Okay, what do you think?”

“Of wha - oh!  Oh, you gig a shkar! Gack.  Schuse - plah.”  He lunged over and spat his toothpaste into the sink.

“I’m trying to walk a weird line between over the top and too subtle,” Lapis muttered, peering at her reflection again.  She was never all that comfortable looking in mirrors anyway.  She’d placed a blue star in the middle of the black triangular panel in her halter top.  “I mean, I know it should be gold.  I’m just not ready to step  _ up _ to gold.”

“No, it’s great!  I’m so happy you finally want to wear it!”  Steven scooped water into his mouth with his hand, swished it around and spat again.  “You’re really a Crystal Gem now!”

“I… still don’t know that I am.  But it seems important today to show a united front, right?  And it  _ does _ show my loyalty to you personally.  I think that’s important too.  I don’t want to keep holding off from it because I’m not totally comfortable with the whole group… identity… team…  _ thing.” _

He hugged her tightly around the waist.  “You look fantastic, Lapis.  Pearl is going to be stoked.”

“Did you grow again?  Your head’s up to my chin now.”  She petted his curls, surprised at how long they were now; they were coiled up so tightly that they concealed their real length.

“I don’t  _ think _ so.”  He stepped back and put his hand on top of his head as if he could feel whether he was any taller.  “Probably just good posture.  Man, I’m nervous!”

“Chin up,” she said.  “Whatever happens, today would have to work  _ really _ hard to be worse than the last time you got new Gems.”

 

Finally they were all together and everyone was clean and brushed and as respectable as they were going to get.  Steven had a picnic basket on the grounds that it was just good hospitality to bring  _ some _ food to share and in any case he and Connie would eventually want snacks.  Peridot had tried and discarded eight increasingly ambitious outfits in rapid succession before reverting to a large grey hoodie with BEACH CITY IS FOR LOVERS on the back.  She looked a bit downcast about it but, as Amethyst pointed out, meeting new people from outer space was probably not the best occasion to debut your first attempt at Elegant Gothic Lolita.  Lion was wearing a bow and, for a wonder, not scratching it off.

“Right,” said Pearl, shouldering the banner, “time to  _ go.” _

Rather than the aftermath of a fight or any kind of diplomatic incident, when they got to their destination they found both Jasper and Milky Quartz sitting on the ground festooned with daisy chains and garlands of strawberry leaves while Celestine took pictures of them with Jasper’s phone and giggled like a fiend.  She spun around, startled, when she heard them and for a moment looked ready to run for her life before composing herself and smiling brightly.

“You’re here at last!  You certainly made us wait.  Jasper dear, will you please do the honours?”

“Oh.  Um.”  Jasper got to her feet, shedding strawberry leaves.  Lapis felt a surge of mixed affection and impatience; she often thought that when Jasper had shed her constant aggressive posturing she had become enormously more tolerable to be around but also something of a pushover.  It was fun when she herself or Pearl wanted to push Jasper over but Lapis mildly resented other people taking advantage of her good nature, particularly pretty little Gems who had obviously already worked out that pretty little Gems were a major weakness for her.  If Milky Quartz had not transparently been one of nature’s chaperones there was no way she’d have left Celestine and Jasper alone together.  Something extremely unnecessary would have been bound to happen.

“Celestine, Milky, these are the Crystal Gems,” Jasper began.  “You’ve already met Pearl and Lapis Lazuli.  This is Garnet, Amethyst, Peridot, Steven Universe and Connie Maheswaran.  Oh, and Lion.  Everyone, may I present Celestine and Milky Quartz of the White Diamond Court.”  Behind her, Milky got up and gravely bowed.

“Formerly,” said Celestine.  “We’re rebels, runaways and probably reprobates.”

“Welcome to Earth!” Steven exclaimed, throwing out his arms.  “We’re glad to have you!”

“Oh, is this how you do it?” Celestine asked, imitating him.  “Thank you, we’re glad to be here!  So I take it you’re the one who’s  _ not _ Rose Quartz?  And  _ you _ are the full-time fusion, and  _ you _ are the  _ compact model _ of Amethyst, and  _ you _ are the magnificent lunatic who told Yellow Diamond where to shove it?”

“Strictly speaking I called her a clod,” said Peridot, puffing out her chest, “but I think she could infer where to shove it from that.”

“You’ll have to tell me  _ all _ about it.  I’ve only heard her side of the story, which is  _ not _ flattering to you, but I knew anyone who could rattle  _ her _ would be worth meeting.  And a Peridot!  Every Peridot I’ve ever come across has been a  _ model _ of duty and diligence with  _ no _ imagination so you must be remarkable.”

“I have come  _ so far!” _ Peridot agreed enthusiastically.  “I mean, these days I virtually embody anarchy.  You wouldn’t believe what I get up to. Just the other day Amethyst and I -”

“Peridot,” Garnet said, and that was it.

“Ahem,” said Peridot.  “But I shouldn’t monopolise the conversation.  We all want to hear about  _ you.” _

“Well, of course you do.  We’re new and exciting and glamorous, especially Milky.”  Milky, who was trying to disentangle without breaking a daisy chain that Celestine had woven in and out of the tufted crest of her hair, gave her a reproachful look.  “I mean it, Milky.  You may not think you’re anything so special but I see more in you, and I’m sure that to  _ them  _ you’re a creature of mysterious allure.  I should explain Milky Quartz is my bodyguard, confidante and sounding board.  She doesn’t talk much and I talk constantly, all the time, so we’re very well matched.  Each of us fits into the other one’s gaps.  Most importantly, she’s my  _ friend. _  I wouldn’t be here without her,” Celestine concluded, a little defiantly.

“Suggestion!” Steven said.  “How about we all sit down and get comfortable and then you can tell us your whole story?”

They formed an uneven circle, more of a lemon shape with Lion lying along one side of it and Steven and Connie leaning back against its flank.  Celestine placed herself right in the middle and gradually revolved as she talked, like the sun of her own imaginary solar system.  Pearl had sat down on Jasper’s knee without either of them seeming to need to think about it or discuss it, and Lapis inwardly debated whether she could just take the other knee, or whether the two of them would look like bookends and it would be too twee.  In the end she sat on the ground beside Jasper and rested her elbow on her knee, to show that she cared but not too much.  

Jasper put one large, warm hand on the small of her back and just let it rest there.  That was sort of simultaneously thrilling and terrible.  Jasper being affectionate with her in public in front of everyone they knew; Jasper showing that affection in a way that she couldn’t help thinking looked a little possessive, even proprietorial; perhaps most immediately concerning, Jasper making skin-to-skin contact and maybe not knowing yet that being touched on her bare lower back made her feel all squirmy and hot and deeply distracted from whatever else was going on.  She didn’t want to push her hand away for anything but if Jasper did anything silly like rubbing her back it would be that or disgrace herself. 

_ Just don’t think about it, and focus on the ninny.   _

“I hardly know where to begin,” Celestine said.   _ You’ve been rehearsing what you’d say all the way from Homeworld if not longer.   _ “Perhaps with the fact that for a long time now, I’ve been White Diamond’s favourite little accessory.”   _ Oh, she knows it?   _ “She totally underestimates me and I had enough of  _ that  _ ages ago.  She’s so sunk in her complacency she’s forgotten who I  _ am. _  I mean, yes, I’m cute.  I’m darling.  I’m entertaining and bubbly and vivacious.  But that’s all she wants from me any more and it’s so empty.  She’s forgotten who  _ she _ is.  I - I’m getting off track.  The point is that I got tired of being underestimated and stifled and kept away from people who might actually see me with new eyes and appreciate my art and my power instead of asking me for the same songs again and again and again.  And I had Milky to think about - I had to have something better to offer her, didn’t I?  You can’t just uproot a sweetie like Milky with no idea of where you’re going to transplant her to.  So I thought, and I listened.”

She paused and struck a little pose with her hand cupped to her ear before she proceeded.  “Now I’ve always been a listener as well as a talker, believe it or not.  Gossip is power and before I got bored with  _ that _ too I spend a lot of time on it.  I realised I could be using all my nosiness for serious intelligence-gathering and could learn something to my advantage.   _ That _ is how, among other things, I came to be hiding under White Diamond’s throne with my little ears flapping when Yellow Diamond showed up wanting to vent.  They thought they were in private and it’s so  _ interesting _ the things they say then.  I had to stuff my slipper in my mouth to keep from laughing because Yellow Diamond was in an absolute  _ state _ about this horrible little Peridot who had  _ openly defied her  _ and as she was complaining about how terribly offensive that was she kept saying the most intriguing things about the situation on Earth.  By that time I’d been seriously intelligencing for, oh, decades without finding out anything I could use for more than to satisfy my curiosity, work minor feats of surreptitious political manipulation, or to tell Milky a good story or two.  I couldn’t believe I’d never really thought about the fact that I wasn’t the  _ only _ subversive, transgressive, rebellious malcontent, that somewhere out there was a  _ planet _ of kindred spirits.  There was actually an  _ option _ other than staying where I was and hating it.  And so I began to  _ plan,  _ and we bided our time - bode our time? - anyway we waited for the time to be right and now here we are, ready to enjoy a revolutionary life.”  She looked around at them all, hands outflung, eyes bright and wide and her little chest rising and falling rapidly.

“But… wait.”  Peridot said, crinkling her nose.  “Yellow Diamond thought the planet would be destroyed by the Cluster before long and I’d go with it.  Why did you decide to come to a planet that  _ you _ must have thought would blow up soon, or could have blown up before you even got here?”

“Oh, is that what she told you she thought?” Celestine asked airily.  “Yellow Diamond bluffing again.  She wasn’t sure at  _ all _ that the Cluster would really go off.  She was fretting all about it to White Diamond, wondering if she should send more ships to make sure the place was annihilated even if it didn’t.  I have a very interesting psychological insight about the three of them since they lost Pink Diamond, you know.  They’re all not coping with it in their own ways.  Blue Diamond’s completely withdrawn into brooding and melancholy and often nobody sees her from one century to the next.  Yellow Diamond works like an absolute fury and never admits anything is wrong at all  _ ever _ \- unless she thinks she’s venting in total privacy.  And White Diamond has just stopped caring about everything except aesthetics and luxury and refinement.  Lucky for all of  _ us _ she’s so complacent, really, because she managed to get Yellow Diamond soothed down and persuaded her there was no need to get all worked up and expend even more precious resources on a poisonous little planet that never brought anyone anything but misfortune.  Anyway, I thought it over and decided it was a chance worth taking.  I just thought - well.”  She gestured around at the landscape in general.  “From everything I could find out, this is a place where impossible, outrageous things happen.  It didn’t seem that far-fetched that people like you might be able to destroy the Cluster before it destroyed you - or, of course, that the Cluster might be a complete dud and do nothing, more cynically.  Was it that, or the destruction one?  Or do we not know yet?”

“None of them,” Steven said.  “I managed to talk to the Cluster and find a way for it to be without hurting anyone.  It’s part of our planet now.  It’s okay.”

“Oh?  So there was no epic battle?” Celestine deflated a bit.  “I was picturing all kinds of derring-do.  Jasper in particular leaping around smiting things.  None of that?”

“Sorry,” said Jasper, shrugging.  “I didn’t even have anything to do with the whole Cluster thing.  I was grounded to my room and I spent most of my time napping and watching old movies.”

“I… don’t know what any of that is except that you did it in your room.  Please tell me it’s rebellious and transgressive,” Celestine said hopefully.

“It… definitely introduced me to some rebellious ideology, put it that way.  I wasn’t a Crystal Gem yet then.  I was still getting my head around the idea Yellow Diamond had ditched me here, that she wouldn’t care if I died, and I didn’t know what else could be the point of my life.  It was… actually really painful.  I kind of tried to describe it before.  At first it doesn’t feel like you’re getting set free, it feels like you’re just losing everything that’s ever been important to you and you can’t even imagine anything else.  Then bit by bit I started finding new things were important to me, and I made friends and fell in love and it was onward and upward.”  

She didn’t  _ rub _ Lapis’ back when she said that, but her hand tightened there for a moment and a kind of thrill of warmth went through her.  It came as a strange kind of comfort; it distracted her from thinking of Blue Diamond’s withdrawal into melancholy, anyway.  It was so  _ strange _ to hear someone talk about her Diamond the way Celestine did.  Could she really be as disaffected as she sounded, not to even  _ miss _ being able to worship and adore White Diamond?  Lapis thought of herself as about as cynical as she could be most days, but she wondered if Celestine had an edge on her.  She glanced over to Pearl, wondering what she thought about all this, and saw that she was getting her back rubbed without a doubt, and curling up on herself with flustered pleasure.   _ Oh,  _ now _ I’m envious that I’m not getting felt up as robustly as Pearl.  Well, it’s fair enough, Jasper’s not in love with  _ me.  A small and embarrassingly uncynical voice pointed out,  _ But she does  _ really _ like me.  And if it weren’t so public and if there weren’t innocent children and lions present, I’d love her to keep stroking my back and trace her fingers round my teardrop and rub the nape of my neck that special way that makes me go all goosey.  I need to teach her about that.  I would have taught her already if life didn’t keep getting in the way.  Life is in the way  _ right now _ and I still can’t stop thinking about everything I want her to do to me and the things Pearl and I can do to her together. _

“So - Milky Quartz, right? What about you?” Amethyst asked, leaning forward keenly.

Milky looked up, surprised.  “What about me?” she asked.  “I take care of Celestine.”

“Yeah?  Is that what you’ve always done?”

Milky looked into her lap, where the strawberry leaves and daisy chains she’d been picking off herself were heaped.  She was silent.

“Milky,” Celestine said, quietly for her, “would you like me to tell them?  It’ll come up sooner or later.  There are things they’ll notice.  We can just get it out of the way now.”  Milky gave a small nod.  Amethyst exchanged an uncomfortable glance with Peridot.

“Right!” Celestine said, her tone brightening again.  “My MIlky Quartz was created to be an arena fighter, and she was  _ great.   _ She was White Diamond’s champion and her pride and joy.  All this was a little bit before my time, but I’ve gone back into records and she really was amazing.  She would have been a legend but her career was cut short by a crack.  Now ordinarily that would mean she would be finished off quickly and humanely, rather than letting her deteriorate and suffer, but White Diamond had invested so much in her already that she was willing to try something out of the ordinary.  Her researchers had developed an injection technique they were ready to test on live subjects that they thought could actually heal cracked Gems - they’d heard the rumours that came back from the war here about Rose Quartz being able to do it and tried to develop their own equivalent.  It saved Milky’s life, but it wasn’t quite perfect.”

Slowly, Milky untied and pulled away the armband she wore.  Underneath it her gemstone had what looked like a scar, a deep rift plugged by some cloudy material that was almost the same as the quartz around it but not quite.  She held up her misshapen hand, then used it to tap underneath her blank eye.  “Never the same,” she said quietly.  “They poofed me over and over to see if I could form right again and this is as close as I ever got.”

_ That explains a little of that.   _ Lapis felt a jab of sympathy.  She realised, looking around at the others, that some of them hadn’t even noticed Milky’s deformities until then.  It bothered her somehow that someone who’d become so good at concealing her weak points in plain sight was forced into displaying them.  It was like taking something from her that she’d painstakingly earned.

“The researchers weren’t sure if White Diamond would want to keep Milky after that,” Celestine went on.  “They decided to ask her when she was in a good mood, because she’d come to their facility to pick  _ me _ up.  I was newly developed and now  _ I _ was her pride and joy.  She’d told me how precious and special I was and that I was going to have a big strong Quartz bodyguard so that everybody knew it.  She was carrying me in her arms.”  Her arms stole around her own body when she said that, hands cupping her elbows.  “I didn’t really understand everything that was going on, but they brought Milky out for inspection and all I saw was a big strong Quartz, and I pulled on White Diamond’s sleeve, because even then I was frankly pretty audacious, and said ‘Is that her?  Can she be mine?’  And luckily enough for both of us, White Diamond was in such a good mood that she decided repurposing Milky like that wasn’t a bad idea.”

“She saw me like that and she still wanted me,” Milky said, with a twitch at the corner of her mouth that could have been a smile.  “Celestine saved my life.”

“I didn’t really know any better,” Celestine said with a self-deprecating tinkle of a laugh.  “You give me too much credit for that one, and I think I did awfully well out of it.”

“I think maybe I can help,” Steven said, hesitantly raising his hand.  “The way Rose Quartz could heal cracked Gems, I can do it too.  Would you let me try?”

Both white Gems stared at him.  Celestine blinked, and her face lit up with hope, but Milky’s remained studiously immobile.  “Can’t make it worse,” she said.  

“Okay,” said Steven, getting up and going over to her.  “This may be a little weird, but it’s not going to hurt you, okay?  Just the opposite.  I’ve done this for Amethyst and for Lapis too, so they can tell you it works.”

“Like a charm,” Amethyst agreed.

Milky gave Steven another long, cautious look, nodded her head and extended her massive arm towards him.  He licked his hand and pressed it to her scarred gemstone.  Everyone leant forward; even Lion looked curious.

Nothing happened.  “It stopped working  _ again?” _ Steven said in dismay.

“Thanks for trying,” Milky said, “but I didn’t really expect it to work.  This,” she tapped the scar with the thumb of her mitten hand, “is thousands of years old.  It’s set.  I can live with it.”

“I’m sorry.  I wish I could have helped.”

“Nice of you,” she said, shrugging one shoulder as Celestine tied her armband back in place.  

“Okay, has anyone got a booboo I can fix up before I lose my mojo again?” Steven asked, turning to the group.  “Looking for a quick confidence boost here.”

“Oh!” said Connie, bouncing up.  “I have a very minor wound here.  Blundered into the corner of the coffee table.”  She displayed a scratch on her left calf.

“Thank you!”  He licked his fingers again and dabbed them on her leg, where the scratch swiftly disappeared.  “Phew, still got it.”

“But she’s not a Gem, is she?” Celestine asked, bending over to peer at Connie’s leg.  “Isn’t she, you know, indigenous?”

“I’m  _ very _ indigenous and I understand every word you say,” Connie pointed out, without rancour but in a tone that suggested rancour was always an option if she felt too patronised.  “Steven’s magic spit works just as well on humans as on Gems.  In fact, I was the first human he ever used it on, although the first time was by accident.”

“Oh,” said Celestine, straightening up in a hurry.  “Um.  I missed your name the first time, I’m sorry.  What was it?”

“Connie.”

“Are there a  _ lot _ of humans in the Crystal Gems these days?”

“So far just Steven and me.”

“I’m just a little confused, and I know this is probably because I’m missing information, what I could find about humans was spotty at best - what can you  _ do?” _

“She’s a sword fighter,” Steven said quickly.  “She’s really great, she uses my mom’s sword, I use her shield and we work together.”

_ “She _ \- I beg your pardon,  _ you _ use Rose Quartz’s sword?  You must be stronger than you look.”

“Thanks, I am,” Connie said, folding her arms.

“We can always use more good fighters,” Steven said, “so it’ll be great to have Milky with us, but you don’t have to be a fighter to be part of our team.  There’ll be lots of things you can do too.”

Celestine gave a little scream of laughter.  “Oh dear!  Oh, you don’t know at all.  Not your fault, when I’ve been kept practically a  _ prisoner _ for so long.  I’m not a fighter.  I’m a  _ weapon.” _

Steven looked at her small, pompom-intensive person doubtfully.  “How are you a weapon?”

“You know, I’ve been talking for  _ so _ long, I should take a break and give someone else a turn.  Lapis Lazuli!  Why don’t  _ you _ tell them all about it?”

_ You little beast. _  She was trying to be angry because anger felt stronger but Lapis’ main emotion just then was a cold, sinking sense of shame.  And injustice.  She hadn’t said or done a thing to try to humiliate Celestine in front of the others.  All she’d done was be there and that was apparently enough that she needed to be taken down a peg and Celestine’s dominance asserted.   _ And _ she’d underestimated her precisely the way she was  _ supposed _ to, because Celestine looked little and fluffy and shiny and that was exactly how they’d both been designed.

“Lapis?” said Steven.  “What do you mean?”  He looked to Celestine and then to Lapis, blinking.

_ Well, we didn’t have to be enemies but now we are.  I’ll take my time and get to know you and find out exactly what will hurt you just as badly as outing me to him. _  Jasper’s hand was still heavy on her back and it stirred a little, a very gentle jostle.

“You okay?” she asked quietly.  Pearl was leaning over too, her face all gentle concern.   _ I really, really hope this isn’t the last time the two of them are kind to me.   _

“Well,” she said slowly, fixing her eyes on a spot in the middle of the circle rather than on any of the people forming it, “I’d never met Celestine before, and from the sounds of her story she’s a lot younger than me, post-war, so I didn’t recognise her as part of the same thing I was.  There was… almost a fashion amongst the Diamonds at one time for developing small, decorative-looking Gems with disproportionately destructive powers.  We could be at their side looking harmless and pretty but able to be turned on their enemies as a total surprise.  Or we could be sent in discreetly as assassins.  No one suspects the little ones.  I was optimised for planets with a lot of water because of their colonial priorities at the time, they were taking on a lot of water worlds or mostly-water worlds like this one.  I’m not really the most successful example because I’m dependent on that environment.”

“Oh, don’t be hard on yourself,” Celestine said, smiling.  “My powers have limits too; to be fully effective I need air or at least a decent gaseous atmosphere.”

“I had put all that behind me, you know,” Lapis said.  “I’d even got Blue Diamond to mostly forget that was what she’d had me made for.  She discontinued the line because she got nervous about what she’d created - too much power, too independent.  I think there were one or two who actually went rogue and had to be put down or escaped into space.  But I was the  _ funny _ one, I was non-threatening, I made a new role for myself and it worked well for a long time.”   _ I was beginning to find a role here, even if it was just the strange bad-tempered one who’s gradually mellowing, but you’ve made me right back into the weapon. _

“You were a limited edition but I am a one-off creation,” Celestine said.  “A White Diamond exclusive.  I’m a sonic weapon.  That is, I have a wonderful voice, it’s my instrument; she insisted that I be a singer and that’s what I love most.  And I have another voice, and the other voice destroys Gems but leaves everything else standing.  You’ll notice the cunningly built in limit; it can’t travel through outer space and nor can I under my own power, so if I  _ did _ go rogue I could only lay waste to one planet before I ran out of waste to lay.  Don’t worry!  I don’t want to do that.  I’d so much rather be creative than destructive, it’s  _ far _ more fun.  However, you may find I’m a very useful little something to have in reserve.”

“That’s so horrible,” Steven exclaimed.  

“What?  No it’s not, it’s amazingly powerful.  Don’t worry, I’d always give you enough warning to get out of range before I sang like  _ that.” _

“No, I mean it’s horrible to make someone to be a weapon!  And horrible to use music to hurt people.”

“Plus how do you use it without destroying  _ yourself?” _ Peridot asked.  “It’s an obvious practical question,” she added quickly.

“It’s the way I’m set up,” Celestine said.  “I don’t understand exactly how this works, but there’s something to do with frequency or resonance or whatever that’s very specifically calibrated in my gemstone so that I can’t be damaged by my own voice and neither can any of the Diamonds.  It’s as if our names are on a whitelist, haha.  Unfortunately the list can’t be changed since my gemstone was created, so I have to make sure Milky’s out of range before I use it too.”

“Have you used it a  _ lot?” _  Connie asked with a look of horrified fascination.

“She used me for a few executions,” Celestine said, shrugging.  “In a transparent soundproof box so the spectators could get the point without getting the  _ point _ right in the stones.”  She looked around at their faces, a spectrum from aghast to stony.  “Look, I do realise how that sounds.  You need to remember I was very young and innocent and I didn’t know any better than to do what she told me.  And she was terribly unhappy just then and it seemed as if only I could do anything for her and make sure she knew she was safe.  I’m not going to carry on as if I was some sort of monster just because I wouldn’t do the same thing now.  I’ll only use my power in a good cause like yours!”

“Jasper, Peridot, did either of you know anything like this was going on on Homeworld?” Garnet asked.

“Oh, they couldn’t have,” Celestine said before either of them could protest their ignorance.  “It was all very secret to maintain my cover.  Those spectators I mentioned were a  _ very _ small, select audience who wouldn’t dare tell anyone what they’d seen.  Yellow Diamond knows about me; I don’t think Blue Diamond does and I’m sure Pink Diamond didn’t.  You don’t seem anything like as pleased as you should be to have me on your side.”

“I - I think I have to stick by what I said before,” Steven said.  “There’ll be lots of  _ other  _ things you can do.  I just don’t ever want you to do that for us.  It’s not your fault you were made to do that but it’s too awful.”

“Oh,” said Celestine, clearly disappointed.  “Well, if that’s the way you feel I suppose that’s that.  It seems like an awful waste, though.  At the very least I’m useful as a deterrent.  People don’t have to know you won’t use me.”

“I… think I need a snack break,” said Steven.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is out of order! It was meant to come between 13 and 14 but got sidelined for a long time because I got stuck on part of it and wanted to continue with the plot, as this is really just a free-floating vignette. Now I'm stuck on the plot so I managed to finish this; please enjoy Peridot and Amethyst's dumpster date. It is weird and disgusting, and it is dedicated to [aprillikesthings](http://aprillikesthings.tumblr.com/) AKA [Fangirl_on_a_bicycle](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle/pseuds/Fangirl_on_a_bicycle) because, in a profound way, it is her fault. Thank you for being weird with me, you weirdo.

The new dumpster was behind the store on the main drag that changed hands every third month or so on average.  Its most recent incarnation had been “Bed, Bed and Beyond,” and the legal trouble had been only part of why that hadn’t lasted.  Now the shopfitters were inside performing yet another makeover, the new business yet to show its hopeful face to the uncaring consumers of Beach City, and they had left their dumpster unattended.

“Huh,” said Peridot, standing back from it with her chin in her hand.  “I mean, I know my experience is limited, but when you said there was a new dumpster I didn’t realise it would actually be a  _ new _ dumpster.  I thought they entered existence sort of beat up.  How do we  _ know  _ this is a dumpster?  Where is the chipped paint?  Where are the rusty, bubbly corners?  Why don’t I feel like we could get sucker-punched by a raccoon when we open the lid?  It’s not right.”

“Dude, the raccoon sucker-punch was  _ one time.   _ You have to let it go.”  Amethyst rubbed her hands together gleefully.  “The incredibly rare unspoilt dumpster.  She’s Pristine Christine.  She’s new-fallen snow.  She’s - ya know when you open a new thing of Neapolitan ice cream and the stripes are  _ perfect  _ and you know you’re gonna dig your paw in there and destroy them but just for a moment you stop and appreciate?  Just like that.”

“Right,” said Peridot, and stood studiously appreciating it for a moment before darting in, producing a marker pen from her shorts pocket and drawing a heart with the initials A and P inside it on the dumpster’s innocent paintwork.  “Nya-hah!”

“Nicely done,” said Amethyst, giving her a golf clap.  “You’re a hooligan.  Gimme a boost.”  Peridot bent over with her hands braced on her knees.  Amethyst clambered onto her back and lifted the corner of the heavy black rubber lid, then somersaulted into the mysterious darkness below.  There was a muffled crunch and some clattering.

“Are you okay?” Peridot called out.  “Is it gross?”

“I’ve had orgies in nastier places.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything!  Your dating standards used to be remarkably low!”

“No seriously, there’s a mattress, I think I found a phone book, this is practically a motel room.  Ow!  Ow, okay, spiky thing, spiky no likey.”  The lid lifted again, butted upward by Amethyst’s head, and she peered out with her nose and hands over the edge like Kilroy.  “It’s weird, it hardly smells.  I mean, there’s some sawdust smell and some maybe oil smell but there’s no deep dumpster stank.  There’s a dead phone you might wanna tear the guts out of.  Help me get this mattress turned over, there’s more good shit under it.”

“Okay okay.  Hold on.”  Peridot walked a few paces away, turned, crouched dramatically, ran up and hurled herself up the side of the dumpster.  She managed to get her elbows over the edge of it and, with some scrabbling of her feet against the outside and Amethyst helpfully clawing from above, tumbled into the unknown.  

She landed mostly on Amethyst but partly on something with a very unfriendly corner that jabbed her right in the thigh.  By rolling off she discovered the mattress, a king single which had a jagged slit in its cover weeping stuffing but was otherwise unsullied.  She popped on her headlamp and looked around.  “Neat!”

“C’mon, let’s flip it.”  With some clambering and bracing of arms and legs they managed to shove the mattress up onto its long side against the back wall of the bin.  Underneath was an intriguing rubble of broken and discarded office equipment.  Some of it looked pretty vigorously broken, as if the ill-fated BB&B proprietor had taken out their disillusionment on whatever came to hand.  There were ring-binders and another dead phone and staff uniform shirts and all sorts of crap.  They rummaged through the debris, absorbed and contented, pausing now and then to show one another a choice find or for Amethyst to grab Peridot’s head and point the light at something she wanted to see.  Right at the bottom there was a laptop whose screen hung from its body by its hinge, lolling back like a head on a broken neck, and a truly impressive desktop collection of lucky troll dolls that probably hadn’t been as lucky as advertised.  Their hands met in a delighted high-five that sounded absurdly loud in the cramped space.

“I  _ love _ these,” Amethyst said, stuffing trolls in a shop-soiled pillowcase.  “I’m gonna take off their heads and poke holes in their ears and thread a string through ‘em and have a necklace.”

“I can’t tell if this has any useful parts but it’ll be fun just figuring out if I can resurrect it,” Peridot mused, bending the broken hinge back and forth.

“But this big-ass troll?” Amethyst asked, waving the largest specimen under Peridot’s nose.  “I’m gonna put her head on a stick and wave it around.”

“Like a grisly souvenir of your massacre of the troll people and your slaughter of their queen!” Peridot exclaimed.  Amethyst smacked a kiss against her cheek.

“You  _ get _ me.”

They let the mattress flop back down and sat on top of it contemplating their spoils.

“For a newbie dumpster, Pristine Christine is pretty good,” Amethyst concluded.  “I mean, she’s got a long way to go to develop  _ character,  _ but she’s got moxie.  One day she may be a heavy hitter like Dirty Gertie behind the bus station.”

“Aww, Christine, you hear that?”  Peridot patted the wall of the dumpster.  “That is high praise coming from a connoisseur of trash receptacles.”

“And a pretty good trash receptacle myself,” Amethyst remarked.

“I’m Vicki, may I help you?”  Peridot had pulled a staff shirt with an embroidered name patch over her head.  “All I do all day is sell beds!  Beds beds beds.  My tiny finite human life is completely bedicated to bedding.  Breaking character, though, we should take this mattress.  It just needs a little duct tape to stop its innards coming out and it would be a great addition to our nest.”

“I know, right?  Like no mildew  _ at all.   _ I’ll feel so swanky.  What’re you doing?”

“Test bounces.  Gotta test the different zones for structural integrity.”

“With your butt?”

“Well, in practical terms our butts and our knees are the most realistic test-bounces for anything we might bed down on.  Like, rhythmic, vigorous test-bouncing with optional grinding motions.”

“So today  _ you’re _ the one who takes it in a pervy direction.  Nice.”  Amethyst was just reaching over for a quick grope and Peridot was attempting an evasive yet not too evasive manoeuvre when the sound of heavy approaching footsteps made them both freeze.  “Kill the light!” Amethyst hissed, clapping her hand over Peridot’s gemstone just before she darkened it.  They crammed themselves into a dark corner and held their breath, smothering giggles, as the lid was thrown back.  Pristine Christine’s lid was divided into two flaps and it was the one further from them that was opened to admit a cardboard box full of broken glass, which landed with a glorious crash, and a hail of tied-up plastic garbage sacks.  It sounded like two people were loading them in, from the rhythm they struck and the different-pitched grunts of effort.  The invasion was brief, the lid was slammed back down and the footsteps tramped off.

After a moment Peridot flipped her light back on, illuminating Amethyst making a terrible face inches from her own.  She gave a brief screech before dissolving into laughter and attempting to pummel Amethyst.  That got her pinned to the mattress in a very satisfying manner, although she kept up the wrestling and squirming for a while just because she was having fun.  Finally Amethyst kissed her, which was a sufficient distraction to stop her struggling and divert all her attention to soft lips and warm wet tongue and eager hands sneaking up under Vicki’s shirt.  She wrapped her legs snugly around Amethyst’s hips and hummed happily down in her throat.

“You still want me to call you Vicki?”

“Ha, no.  Being a human retail worker is not  _ really _ a big sexy fantasy for me.”

“Good, you don’t look like a Vicki anyway.  Apart from having ‘Vicki’ written over your left boob.”  She pushed the shirt up a bit and shuffled down to kiss Peridot’s bare tummy.  “Vicki’s probably really uptight anyway.  I bet she wouldn’t let anyone feel her up in a dumpster.”

“I dunno, we found her shirt in here, maybe she took it off for just that reason.”  Peridot combed her fingers through the soft tangle of Amethyst’s hair as she ran her tongue up over her midriff.  “Maybe all  _ kinds _ of debauchery’s gone on in here.”

“Nah, we could smell it.  We’re breaking her in.”

“Vicki or Christine?”  She tucked the shirt up under her chin and hooked the snug little top underneath up over her breasts.  “You don’t need to answer that.  Come here?”

“Yum.”  She pulled one nipple into her mouth and sucked, her mouth soft and slick and her tongue moving slowly.

“I love how I feel that here and here too.”  She felt around to find Amethyst’s hand and placed it low on her tummy.  “You suck and I feel this  _ pull.” _

“Yeah?”  She sucked her deeper, drawing a little whine from Peridot, and pressed her hand in, rubbing around in a little circle.  “Pulling you now?”

“Pulling hard.  Oh… other side now.   _ Nice.” _  Each tug brought down a little more heat, a little more wetness in her pussy, and she was just beginning to breathe deeply when the footsteps came back.  Amethyst froze, wide-eyed.

“Where are we gonna put all this crap?  The pieces are too long to get in the dumpster.”

“I don’t know, stack ‘em up against it and I’ll get an axe or something later.”

“I don’t wanna be around you using an axe, Kelly.”

Peridot was still lying motionless, listening (not that it was sparkling dialogue but she wanted to know if she should panic), but she felt Amethyst’s lips tighten on her nipple and her hand begin to move again, slipping down to cup between her legs.

“What are you doing?” she tried to say under her breath.  It still seemed loud.  Amethyst just made a little soothing hum and swirled her tongue around.  “What if they hear us?”

“Mm-mm,” Amethyst said, with a fractional shake of her head, and ground the heel of her palm around on her mound.  Objects were clattering and thumping on the other side of the metal wall just behind her head and the workers were arguing about panini or subs, and she was getting so wet so suddenly she felt an actual  _ trickle _ hot between her lips.

_ If they catch us I will, of course, die but I think there’s a decent chance they won’t. _  She curled her fingers in Amethyst’s hair and spread her legs, tilting up her hips.  They were still clattering and trudging around and Amethyst’s fingers were sliding up and down and her breathing deepened again as she pushed against them.  

The footsteps receded and a door slammed, and Peridot whispered furiously, “Just you take it as a mark of how much I love you that I’m letting you fuck me in a dumpster.”

“Letting me fuck you or asking me to fuck you?”  Amethyst’s fingers slowed down.  “I’m not into if you’re just letting me.”

“A - asking you.  Nicely.  Please fuck me in the dumpster.”

Amethyst smothered a laugh against her breast.  “Is that code for your ass now?”

“My pussy, please, which doesn’t need a code name.”

“You want the D?”

“Shh!”  The door banged open again and by the sound of it the workers were dragging something heavy and cumbersome out of the shop.  Amethyst seemed to think that was a good moment to pull down the front of her shorts and stroke up and down with the flat of her fingers.  She caught her breath and clapped her hand over her mouth.  Amethyst made a vaguely questioning little noise and she nodded frantically, her hips twitching as she felt that soft mouth on her breast again and Amethyst’s middle finger slipping between her lips, down into wetness and back up to circle around her clitoris.  Her visor was fogging up; actually, it felt awfully warm in here in general.  

There was an argument going on about something she couldn’t concentrate on; Amethyst had abandoned her breast to shuffle down and kiss her pussy, her tongue flickering against her clitoris as she pushed her finger down and in.  She was trembly, sweaty, her head getting pushed against the metal wall until she braced her other arm against it.  That made a little bumping sound, but there were so many bumping sounds going on outside it didn’t matter.  Such a sweet, urgent pleasure was building up, like the nicest possible itch, and she pushed her hips hard against Amethyst’s hand, grunting softly.  They had a good rhythm now, it was building, the noise that was most likely to be overheard now was probably the wet smacking; how could that be so  _ loud? _  Was it just being boxed in?  She couldn’t really analyse acoustics with her head buzzing and her pussy throbbing under Amethyst’s tongue and the temperature in here rapidly going from awfully warm to ridiculously hot.  Her thighs and tummy were running with sweat, Amethyst’s hair draped over them like a blanket.  

The lid of the dumpster was thrown back and clapped against the shop wall and light flooded in.   _ Oh, shit!  No - no - other side - we’re in a shadow - maybe they won’t -  _  More stuffed bags were thrown in and the lid slammed down and someone said, “Fuck it, I need coffee.”  She was just starting to breathe again when the lid was thrown up  _ on their side _ and the light was full in her eyes and she saw a hand throwing one more bag and bit her own hand in shock because she was coming, in violent surges.  The bag bounced off the back wall and rolled away rustling and the lid slammed back down and she lay there gasping, unable to move, with aftershocks still popping deep inside her and a hot puddle spreading under her.  

The door slammed and a lock clicked and Amethyst burst into laughter, tossing back her hair as she sat up.  “Holy smokes, Peri, you clamped down so hard you nearly broke my finger!”

“I thought they  _ caught _ us!”

“So you  _ came?   _ You’re so weird, I just love the shit out of you.”

“I’m sorry about your finger but look, I bit my hand.”

“Aw, baby.”  Peridot licked her shaking hand and flopped down on top of her to kiss her, wet and lavish and messy.  “Love you.”

“Love… love you.  Amethyst, this is seriously maybe the grossest thing we’ve done.”

“Nah, remember the time with the avocado?”

“Okay.  Yes, the avocado was pretty gross.  It still felt nice.  What can I do for you now?  You deserve something really good for that.”

“I couldn’t really get a straight answer before.  You still want the D?”

“Yes please.”  She pushed Amethyst onto her side for a moment so she could get one leg out of her shorts; that was good enough, and she pulled her back for another kiss.

“Yay.  You know, I think I ship Pussydot and Amedick.”

“Pussydick would be the worst ship name ever.  Talk about generic.”

Amethyst paused in wriggling out of her leggings.  “Hey, I wanted to ask, you want me to figure out a way to fake cum?  I was thinking maybe condensed milk would be fun.”

_ “Am _ ethyst!  Not the time.  Come here.”  

“Here I come.”

Peridot felt a gentle nudging against her lips first, nuzzling into place, then a more assured push that slid down inside her, rocked back, slid deeper, until they were pressed tight together, Amethyst panting against her mouth as her hips swivelled and her warm, thick shaft reached as deep as she could go.  “Like that?” Amethyst breathed.

“Yes…”

“Want it any bigger?”

“Umm…  No, I think this is perfect.  You have it down to an art.”

“Ooh, tell me my dick’s perfect again.”

A soft little laugh puffed out of Peridot and melted into a moan as Amethyst rolled her hips.  “It - it is perfect, you shaped it just for me.  It’s so…  It’s firm, and thick, and curvy, and the head has such a nice bulge, and my pussy just wants to suck it in.  It rubs right on my Perispot and it - slow down - that’s right - it makes me feel so full and snug and proud.”

“Proud of yourself?”

“Both of us!”  She kissed Amethyst, wrapping her arms tightly round her and drawing up her knees, her feet bobbing in the air above them.

“I dunno  _ why,  _ we’re perverts fucking in a dumpster.”  Amethyst slid her hands under Peridot’s hips, squeezing her bottom.  

“I know, we’re reprehensible.”

_ “So _ gross.  Public indecency.”

“Total depravity.”  The end of the mattress was bumping against the dumpster wall now, but  _ oh _ she needed to keep thrusting, so if no one could notice for just a little bit longer, just a little bit longer, she was getting so close and Amethyst’s breathing had that wonderful ragged sound that meant she was too, so if she could  _ just _ get there a little bit before Amethyst did and  _ then _ enjoy seeing and feeling her come through the haze of her own post-orgasmic euphoria,  _ that _ would be, yes,  _ that  _ would be ideal.  The mattress bumping, and Amethyst’s hips clapping softly against the underside of her thighs, and their interwoven breathing and grunts and moans were all gradually picking up speed, until suddenly they were rapid and frantic and she was giving out high-pitched gasps, sharp and joyful like the spasm that swelled and burst inside her.

“I’m coming-coming-coming!”

“No shit,” Amethyst panted, and then, reverently, “Oh,  _ fuck.” _  Her hips stuttered and jerked and she dropped her face into Peridot’s dishevelled hair with a long, deep groan.  She lay limp on top of her now, their panting gently slowing and calming.

“You’re getting heavy now,” Peridot said.  “Well, obviously you’ve weighed the same the entire time, but the exhilaration’s wearing off so I’m noticing.”

“Mmm.  One more minute.”

“One more minute.”  Peridot kissed her sweaty forehead.  “Because I do like how cuddly you are and the sweet sleepy expression on your face, even if they come with being lightly squashed.  And maybe steamed, because I can’t believe how  _ hot _ we’ve made it in here.”

“We hotboxed it,” Amethyst said, and chuckled.

“Downright  _ sultry. _  Ew!  Oh, there’s condensation, the ceiling dripped on me!”

“You can’t complain about getting dripped on.  When we get up it’s gonna look like you pissed the bed.  Piddledot.”

“I think we have to take the mattress home now.  We’ve pretty much claimed it as our own.”

“True.”  Amethyst rolled off her with a soft grunt, and Peridot shifted onto her side to keep holding onto her.  She began to laugh, gently at first and then harder.

“What, what?  I want to be in on the joke.”

“Oh man, I’m just imagining us crawling out of here all bedraggled and dripping sweat and running home with a mattress that smells like your pussy on our heads.  We’re fuckin’ sex cryptids.  Anyone who sees that is gonna think they’re losing their minds.”  She sighed and wiped an appreciative tear from her eye.  “Also, The Sex Cryptids would be a good name for a rock band.”

“I would be in a band with you!  Theremin and drum surf rock is a genre whose time has come.”

“I really love you.  I know I say it a lot but I still do.”

“I love  _ you. _  I mean we’ve established that.  I  _ dumpsterfuck _ love you.”

“‘I Dumpsterfuck Love You,’ the first hit single from The Sex Cryptids.”  Amethyst nuzzled at her cheek.

“I want to take a nap but we’d probably wake up being loaded onto a truck, wouldn’t we?”

“Yeah.  Let’s get going.  Pristine Christine is now Pissed-In Kristin.”

“That is ejaculate, not urine, and you know it.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sincerely unsure about the quality of this chapter which was written in fits and starts over an extended period with a lot of dry spells during which I had no idea what happened next and wrote some quite long false starts that I had to discard, and ends at what I hope is a logical breather-point in the middle of a scene, because I just need to shove it out the door and know that I've moved the damn thing along. Progress is being impeded by the fact that my laptop has breathed its last, I don't feel I have enough privacy to write uninterrupted on my desktop which is in a shared room, and writing on my phone is very slow and makes it hard to reread as I go (the way I normally do) because so little of the page fits on the screen at one time. Oh well, here it goes.

While Steven unpacked the picnic basket and explained juice boxes to Celestine, who had segued from “I am a terrifying living weapon” to “that’s cute what is it” with no apparent sense of incongruity, Lapis said, “Excuse me,” and hurried away amongst the brambles with her shoulders hunched up around her ears.

“Should we go after her?” Jasper asked Pearl.  “I mean, we’ve got to go after her, right?  But should we wait like five minutes, ten minutes?  What’s the protocol?”

“I don’t have one,” Pearl said, her hands clutched together and working nervously.  “This really hasn’t come up before.”

_ “She’s _ full of surprises,” Garnet said, sitting down beside them.  “I see you getting the best results with five minutes.  Time to cool off a bit and catch her breath by herself, not long enough to start feeling like you’re not coming.”

“I always thought,” Pearl said, “that there were things she wasn’t telling me but I never wanted to pry into them.  Well, no, I  _ wanted to _ desperately but early on I was so scared that if I did I would ruin whatever trust we’d managed to build up together.  I was determined to wait until she decided to tell me on her own, and lately I’d started to think that perhaps it didn’t matter any more.  I just had no idea.”

“Does it change how you feel about her?” Garnet asked bluntly.

“What sort of question is that?” Jasper asked, immediately indignant.

“No, it’s all right, Jasper.  She’s only asking because she cares.  Nothing changes how much I love Lapis but I suppose now I’m worried about what  _ else _ could be lurking in her past and hurting her.  I had been imagining things like a broken heart or her Diamond ill-treating her or some deep regret, and I never considered having been made as a secret weapon.  Did she ever say anything about that to you, Jasper?”

“Nothing.  We talked a little bit about stuff she regrets, and no one knows better than me how crazy powerful she is, but she never said anything about being an  _ assassin.   _ I can’t blame her for not wanting to talk about it..  Maybe she just wanted a fresh start.”

“Five minutes are almost up.”  Pearl got up from Jasper’s knee, tugging down the hem of her top.  “I wish I knew what to say.”

“‘Nothing changes how much I love Lapis’ is a good place to start,” Garnet said, giving Pearl’s back a little pat.

They picked their way amongst the bushes, looking out for any sign of blue, until Jasper spotted her by virtue of having a view from higher up.  She was sitting huddled up in the lee of an ancient shield half buried in the earth, still showing a few chips of its blue enamel, with her chin on her knees, scratching at the dirt in front of her with a stick.  She looked up as they stepped into her little clearing, watery-eyed, and sniffed but didn’t speak.  

Pearl crouched down in front of her and wrapped her arms around her tightly.  “How are you, my darling?” she asked.

“Rotten,” Lapis said hoarsely.  “I never wanted you to know that about me.  I don’t know how to go back and face Steven.”

“Steven loves you and accepts you, you know.  I would be very surprised if this made any difference.”

“Hold on, I have to get in on this.”  Jasper knelt and put her arms around both of them, kissing the top of Lapis’ head and then the top of Pearl’s.  “I want to say two things to you, Lapis.  Number one is this doesn’t change anything for me.  Number two is  _ you are not a gun.” _

“Of course I’m not.  What does that mean?” Lapis asked, muffled.

“We’re watching  _ The Iron Giant _ together next time things aren’t insane.  Don’t know when  _ that _ will ever be.  Today’s been about a hundred years long.  Look, my point is, what they made you to be isn’t what you are now and I think what you are now counts for a lot more.”

“Absolutely.  Eloquently put,” Pearl said.

“I wish we could just go home,” Lapis said, putting her head down on Pearl’s shoulder.  “I’m so tired and all I want is to, well, it doesn’t do any good to talk about it when we won’t get to  _ do _ it for who knows how long.”

“Well, I think we can say just between the three of us,” Pearl said.  “I for one want to go home, I want to make sure everything’s as it should be there, I want to make love with both of you and then even  _ I _ want to  _ sleep _ for some hours.”

“Snap,” said Lapis.  “Although I don’t know if I have even a halfway decent… love-make in me in my current state.”  

Pearl laughed softly.  “We could just say gentle kissing and mutual masturbation,  _ then _ sleep and anything more ambitious can wait until we’re rested.”

“I was coping until you started talking about kissing and masturbation and now I need a cold shower,” Jasper grumbled.  “By ‘make sure everything’s as it should be’ do you mean you want to go home and do  _ housework?” _

“Well, Blue Opal did her best but she doesn’t understand all my routines.  It was  _ so _ frustrating to be aware of what she was doing but unable to give her even a little bit of advice.”

“Noooo.  We forbid it.  No tidying up, just straight into bed,” Lapis said.

“I need to clean up my room before I have you two in there again, though,” Jasper said.  “It doesn’t smell good.  Maybe Pearl can run a duster over things upstairs while you watch like a hawk to stop her getting into anything too intense and I change the sheets real quick and blast air freshener around.”

“Why are we talking about this… cosy domestic fluff and not about what’s just happened?” Lapis asked.  “Don’t you want to say  _ anything?” _

“I mostly want you to know that I’d much rather think about our life together now than about anything from that long ago,” Pearl said, “even when it includes things like Jasper apparently descending into abject squalor if I’m not there to pick up after her.”

“And  _ I  _ want you to know I’m going to keep a close eye on Celestine and lean on her if she starts dragging that business up again,” Jasper said.  “I was starting to think she was pretty cute but there was just no need for that.  Like the fact that she’d do that to you for no reason gives me a worse feeling about her than that execution thing she talked about.  That was following orders but she decided to pick on you all by herself.”

“Is it terrible that I understand why she did it?  She arrived and sized us all up and decided I was the most likely to be a threat to her.  Or competition.  Which goes to show how wrong she can be because Pearl is definitely the best singer here.  But anyway, she’d see it as taking control of the situation and securing her position, I’m sure.”

“She’s not  _ just _ mean, though,” Jasper said.  “She and Milky Quartz are really kind of sweet together.  They’re so proud of being best friends.  So maybe if I lean on her  _ right _ that little piece of assholery can become her thing we look back on like wow, I’m glad it’s so different now.  Like me headbutting Steven.”

“Or me stealing the ocean,” Lapis said with a small nod.  “I just… maybe I  _ am _ making too much of it.  Pearl, you were made to be pretty and helpful, and Jasper, you were made to be destructive but honestly so, in an open fight.  There’s nothing  _ sinister _ about either of those.  Even when I believed it was right to do anything my Diamond wanted, I  _ knew _ it wasn’t right that I was so deceptive, that just by existing the way I was made I was deceptive.  That’s what I was ashamed of.  About  _ this _ particular issue.”

_ Yeah, this particular one that isn’t all the times  _ you _ decided on your own to be deceptive,  _ Jasper thought.   _ I don’t want to give you shit for that, though.  I know you’re trying. _  She kissed the top of Lapis’ head again.  “We can handle it,” she said.

“We can,” said Pearl.  “And we love you.”  

“Can I just check something?” Jasper asked.  “I know  _ Pearl _ wants to go back to my room but I don’t know if you do.”

“Why, will you only spray half as much air freshener if I’m not coming?”

“Just didn’t think I should take it for granted.  You’re invited.  So you know.”

“I accept the invitation.”

“Good.”  She put her cheek down on top of their heads and closed her eyes for a few moments.  She was probably overthinking Pearl saying “we love you” on her behalf but it had felt odd to her.  She was fairly sure on her own part that she did really love Lapis by now, but she had the feeling Lapis was the type to be uncomfortable about early declarations of love.  She was also fairly sure Lapis’ feelings were squirming around like a sack full of cats and were nothing like that settled.  It would probably be smart not to say anything else about it unless Lapis brought it up herself.   _ She’d probably say something like “You just think you’re in love with me because we had admittedly wonderful sex; feeling good about each other from that isn’t the same thing.”  Guess that could be true. _

“Oh!” she said, lifting her head as she remembered.  “You know my phone got killed, right?  I lost the pictures we took.  I need new ones.”

“Well don’t take one  _ now,  _ I probably look like I feel,” Lapis said.

“Oh, so you feel pretty as always,” Pearl said gallantly, and kissed her on the cheek.

“We have to go back, don’t we?” Lapis sighed.

“Think of it as a step on the way to going home if it helps.”

They made their way back with some reluctance, Lapis and Pearl walking hand in hand.  Back at the picnic blanket, because of course Steven had brought a picnic blanket, Celestine was daring Milky Quartz to eat a strawberry.

“Do it!  Do it!”

“But it was alive.  Is this fair?”

“Well, it’s not alive  _ now.” _

“It’s okay though,” Peridot said eagerly, “because evolutionarily speaking it  _ wants _ to be eaten.  It’s part of how it propagates.  You see the little yellow specks all over it?  Those are the plant’s seeds.  It evolved the pretty, tasty fruit in order to get birds and animals to pick it up, maybe carry it away, eat it, and then excrete the seeds somewhere they could grow into more plants!”

There was a brief, startled pause.

“You know I’m always down for being gross,” Amethyst said thoughtfully, “but I actually woulda waited till their second or third day on Earth before dropping the ol’ excretion bomb.”

Wordlessly, Milky offered the strawberry to Lion, which sniffed it and looked away.

“Changing the subject,” said Celestine, “look who’s back!  My good friend Jasper.  After all, I’ve known her longer than anyone else here, so she has a special place in my affections.  Have I told you how we met?  She pounced on me.  It was memorable.”

“I thought she could be a rabbit,” Jasper said, sitting down next to Amethyst and taking a strawberry from a small heap she guessed Steven and Connie had picked.

“Oh, what’s a rabbit?”

“A cute little animal.”  She glanced sideways to where Pearl and Lapis were sitting down, or rather Pearl was kneeling with her legs tucked sideways and Lapis was lying down on her back with her head on Pearl’s lap.  It looked pretty comfy; she was probably going to get her hair stroked.  Jasper was just a little bit envious; it wasn’t that she  _ couldn’t  _ lie down with her head in Pearl’s lap, but Lapis was a better  _ scale _ for it.

“How appropriate.”  Celestine’s keen little eyes flickered that way too and Jasper could see her trying to figure out what was going on there.   _ You can wonder, bunny.  No!  Don’t nickname her in your head.  Too late, she’s a bunny.   _ “You know, I was thinking that if I can’t be your secret weapon, maybe I could be a sort of intelligence officer.  I do have all sorts of rare information from Homeworld, although it’s a strange assortment.  I was able to get access to some of White Diamond’s private files, weird old stuff about the origin of Gems.  I mean, obviously we’re  _ made,  _ but I’d honestly never wondered who made the first of us.  Had you?”

“That information has been lost for a very long time,” Pearl said, frowning.  “Unless there’s been some great archaeological discovery since I came here, even the oldest texts we had only said poetic, vague things like ‘so long ago the stars have forgotten’.”

“Well, I don’t know when they were discovered or if they were known all along and just kept hidden, but White Diamond has a few things that must be older than that.  There’s nothing that’s a clear, simple account of what happened, just a lot of overlapping fragments, and nearly all of them contradict each other somewhere.   _ But _ the big thing that enough of them agree on for it to seem reliable  _ is _ that millions of years ago the first Gems were created as servants by some ancient race  _ somewhere.   _ All biological and bipedal, a lot like your humans!  How old  _ are _ humans?  Wouldn’t it be  _ weird _ if it came full circle and it turned out the humans here are some lost remnant of that ancient race who have forgotten who their ancestors were?”

“I’m afraid not,” said Pearl.  “Modern humans have only existed for about a hundred thousand years, there’s a fossil record showing they evolved here, and they’ve definitely never had the sort of culture or technology that could develop an artificial race of sentient beings.  They just fantasise about it.  A lot.  Sometimes in distinctly creepy ways.”

“Well, anyway, they based us on the form of their own species that they liked best - or that they thought made the best servants, or were strongest, or most aesthetically pleasing, depending on your source,” Celestine said, shrugging.  “From there we improvised and came up with all kinds of variations, but always starting from the same basic body template.  We can change it later through reforming, but we actually do not know how to make a Gem without starting from that!  Isn’t that interesting?  I’d assumed if anything we used the base that’s the best but it’s actually just what some unknown inventor stuck us with, and who knows why  _ they _ chose it really.  I wish I could tell you anything much about them, but they’re mostly a mystery.  Some fragments say we overthrew them but others say we just outlived and outlasted them.  Now really,  _ isn’t _ that interesting?”

“It’s  _ academically _ interesting,” said Peridot, “but I fail to see how it makes any difference to us here and now.”

Celestine stuck out her lower lip and pouted.  “That wasn’t easy to find out, you know.  I had to be  _ extremely _ sneaky and read  _ very _ fast to get everything put back before I was discovered because I knew I could probably only risk one trip to that archive.”

“And as a researcher I respect your efforts!  By the way, the position of intelligence officer has been filled.  I’m sure I could use an assistant.”

Celestine’s pouty lips pursed thoughtfully.  “I’m sure we could work  _ together.   _ As a Peridot you’re probably more au fait with technical matters than I am.  We could fill each other’s gaps.”

“Fill your own gap,” Amethyst muttered very quietly.  Jasper shot her an amused glance and nudged with her knee; Amethyst nudged back.  “But hey!” she exclaimed.   _ “I _ wanna thank Celestine for solving one of the great mysteries of my existence!   _ Why do Gems have butts?” _

_ “This  _ again,” murmured Pearl.  Garnet smiled to herself.

“Beeeecause what else would you sit on?” Steven said.

“No, but think about it!  Who has buttcheeks?  Humans and Gems and that’s it!  Check out other animals!  They have  _ butts _ but no  _ cheeks. _  Believe me, I’ve looked.  I read up on it!  You nerds aren’t the only ones who can do research.  The gluteus maximus muscles, AKA buttcheeks, developed out of doing an upright walk and run.  That’s why even apes and monkeys don’t got ‘em.  But  _ we _ don’t really need muscles the way humans do, so why do we have the shapes of them?  The enigma of the butt used to drive me crazy but now I have peace of mind.  We’re just copied off of some other butt-having species and they must’ve had butts for the same reasons humans do.  I mean I  _ knew _ there’s no way Pearl would have a butt if she didn’t have to.”

“You’re welcome!” said Celestine.  “Someone appreciates me.  If not quite for what I expected.  What’s a nerd?”

“An unusually intelligent, curious and perceptive Gem,” said Peridot, grinning.

At this point Connie, in a quiet way, saved the day by raising her hand and saying, “Excuse me?  I’m not sure what time zone we’re in here but it’s after five o’clock at home and I really need to get back in time for dinner.  It’s a school night.”

“That’s very important!” Jasper exclaimed.  “We don’t want you to miss school.”

“Well, she’s not going to  _ miss  _ school if she’s late tonight but she  _ does _ need to be well fed and rested to do her best there tomorrow,” Pearl said.  “We really should get Connie home.”

“Mission: Connie goes home,” Lapis echoed, raising one hand to point dramatically to the skies, then corrected herself to point dramatically at the warp pad.

“Could you two excuse us a minute?” Garnet said to Milky Quartz and Celestine.

“Yes,” said Milky, before Celestine could reply, and picked her up and wandered away to investigate a broken sword a little way off.

“I like her,” said Garnet.  “Good communicator.  Anyone have anything to say about bringing them back with us?”

“I feel weird about Celestine, but I really like Milky too,” said Steven, “and I guess they’re a package deal.  And I bet once she mellows out a little Celestine will be easier to be around.”

“They’re going to have to be watched until we know we can trust them,” Pearl said.

“I can be like their sponsor!  Like I was for Jasper,” Peridot said.  “I’ll keep an eye on them and help them with cultural adjustments and answer all their no doubt many questions.”

“I’ll help you,” said Garnet.

“You’re not planning to do that in our room, are you?” Amethyst asked.  “Because I don’t really want Tinker Bell prancing around in there turning up her nose at my stuff.”

“Why don’t you show them to my room for tonight?” Pearl asked.  “I don’t think there’s anything there for her to turn her nose up at, and with Garnet supervising they shouldn’t be able to get into the weapons.  I was planning to stay with Jasper anyway - unless you need me to help?”

“No, you three should rest.  You look a bit worn,” Garnet said.  “I’m sure you have a lot you need to talk about too.”

“Speaking of things we need to talk about,” Lapis said abruptly, as if she had been nerving herself up for it, “I’m - sorry about -”  She stalled, the corners of her mouth pulling down.

“You don’t need to apologise,” Steven said, squeezing her hand.  “All of that was over a long time ago and you’re our friend now.  We don’t even have to talk about it unless you want to.  I mean, look at this.”  He gently tapped the star on her top.  “That’s what matters now.  Right, guys?”

“I didn’t even see that!” Amethyst exclaimed.  “You’re a star-bellied sneetch now!”

“I’m a  _ what?” _

“One of us,” said Garnet, “as long as you want to be.  Let’s get them back home.”

 

Jasper was now pushing back against a king tide of utter tiredness, but she was a Quartz, damn it, so she rallied and stripped off the sheets that smelled like flop sweat and weepy masturbation and rushed them up to the washing machine before anyone else could  _ notice _ the smell of flop sweat and weepy masturbation, then made up the bed with clean ones, then made a valiant effort to straighten up a room she had let go for several days, then sat down to wait for Pearl and Lapis, and as soon as she let her resolve slacken she promptly fell asleep.

It was a deep, dark velvety kind of sleep, one for the connoisseur.  She dreamed again about trying to climb out of the pit in the sand, and then after a while about being Malachite asleep in the sun, if dreaming about being asleep made any sense.  Pearl was sitting beside her stroking her hair and telling her she was very handsome and it made Malachite purr.

She woke up to find she was on her back with one of them curled up on each side.  Pearl was nestled right into her with one leg wrapped over her left hip and an arm across her chest, while Lapis lay on her side with her back to Jasper, loosely holding her right arm.  She had kicked off the blanket Pearl must have pulled over the three of them and her skirt was all rumpled up to show a pleasing amount of leg. Jasper gave it an appreciative glance before turning her head back towards Pearl. 

It was fascinating to get a chance to watch Pearl sleep.  Her face was very soft and calm and distant, her mouth a little bit open, and her cheeks were faintly flushed.  It was so, so tempting to kiss her, but if Pearl had voluntarily gone to sleep she must have been feeling exhausted and it didn’t seem fair to risk disturbing her.  After all, they hadn’t woken her when they came to bed, though she didn’t think she would really have minded, particularly not if she got kissed.

_ I’m back in my bed with Pearl where we belong, and Lapis is starting to feel to me like she belongs here too.  Wouldn’t that be something?  Both of them every night?  Maybe not  _ every _ night, I can see how I might sometimes want to be alone with Pearl or Lapis might want her to herself… just me and Lapis for a whole night would feel weird but I guess there’s no reason why not, if we both wanted to try.   _ She bent her head enough to kiss Pearl’s feathery hair and then lay back, hoping to get drowsy again.

It wasn’t happening.  She was perfectly warm and comfortable, there was just a little soft silvery light from the tiny star lights Pearl had hung up in the ceiling, she had two lovely Gems snuggled up to her and sleeping like kittens, but she was wide awake.  For some reason her mind decided to present her with a nagging, itchy sense of guilt about how she’d reacted when she first saw Milky Quartz.   _ Another real Quartz. _  What a rotten way to think about her friends.  Amethyst and Steven weren’t  _ normal _ Quartzes but they weren’t  _ not real.   _ Was she still thinking of herself as better than them?  Milky looked amazing and she couldn’t wait to fight her again, nothing would make her better faster than having to match up to someone like that, slamming against her had been incredibly exhilarating, but all of that was a little tainted by being reminded what a snob she still was.

_ I need to be careful about fighting her, though, because honestly she  _ is _ pretty hot and if it’s a  _ good  _ fight, especially if she gets me down on the ground and she gets on top of me, I  _ am _ going to get all turned on, and after what a dumbass I’ve been with Blue lately I should really be playing it safe.  A wandering eye is not a good quality.  As if I don’t have more than enough to keep me busy and happy already. _

_ I wish at least one of them would wake up.  Hmm, would I feel less guilty about disturbing Lapis?  Maybe, but on the other hand Lapis is more likely to seek revenge for me waking her up. _

For a moment Pearl got her hopes up by stretching out her legs, only to dash them by curling back up and seeming to sink into a deeper sleep.  Her nose twitched and Jasper was just suppressing an undignified sound about how cute that was when she was half blinded by blue-white light.  The gem in Pearl’s forehead was shining right in her face.  She had to bend her arm around awkwardly, since Pearl’s head was resting against its shoulder, to cover the gemstone with her hand and stop the dazzle.  Pearl still seemed to be fast asleep, which was weird.  It lasted only a couple of minutes; clearly having her forehead covered like that began to bother her and she tossed her head from side to side before waking with a startled gasp.  The light winked out.

“What were you doing to me?” Pearl whispered.

“Sorry, your head just lit up and it was blinding me.  I didn’t mean to wake you.”  She took her hand away.

“Why not just shut your eyes?”

“I’d been enjoying looking at you.’

“Oh.”  Pearl subsided.  “Well, I suppose  _ that’s _ all right.  I was just having such a nice dream, though.  We were dancing - not fusing, just dancing together - and you were wearing such a lovely buttery yellow dress.  It had all these filmy silky layers that were only opaque  _ because _ they were layered and as we moved and they shifted around I got intriguing little glimpses of your skin.  And I was extremely curious about whether you were wearing anything at all under it, and now I’ll never know.”

“Yeah, I probably wasn’t.”

“Do you promise?”

“Sure.  What were  _ you _ wearing?”

“I can’t remember.  It wasn’t important.”

“Nudity!”

“If you’d like to think so.”  Pearl hitched herself up a little higher and bent over Jasper to softly kiss her mouth.

“Missed you.”

“I missed  _ you.”   _ She eased herself over to lie on Jasper’s belly.

“Wait, does your head light up when you dream?”

“I don’t know.  Nobody has ever told me it did, but you might have been the first eyewitness.”  She stroked Jasper’s hair back from her forehead and held her smooth, cool hands to her cheeks as she kissed her again, slowly and delicately.  “I think skin-to-skin contact would be immensely beneficial in renewing our sense of physical intimacy, which is Pearl for take your clothes off, Jasper.”

“Mmhmm.”  She hugged Pearl close as they dissolved.

“Why don’t you put both your arms around me?”

“Lapis has the other one and she won’t give it back.”

“Oh.”  Pearl glanced over and reached out to stroke Lapis’ tumbled hair.  “I suppose it wouldn’t be fair to take it from her.  She looks so comfortable.”

“Hey… I’m sorry I fell asleep.  You two must’ve been a lot tireder than I was.  I shouldn’t have flaked out on you.”

“You think so?  By my count you spent your morning training Steven, then you had a huge fight with Milky Quartz, then you formed two different fusions in quick succession which is  _ not _ easy for a relative beginner, and then you baby-sat an incredibly annoying little fluffball of a Gem for an extended period without once losing your temper with her.  You had a full day.”

“Oh,  _ someone _ doesn’t like Celestine.”

“She upset Lapis.  And when I showed her my room she said, ‘Oh, it’s actually quite pretty!’ and I wanted to kick her square in her fluffy little bottom.”

Jasper laughed quietly and kissed her cheek.  “Your room’s beautiful.  Even if I get nervous in there, I can see that.  You make everything you touch more beautiful.”

_ “You _ don’t like her, do you?”

“I don’t know.  I’ve seen her be nicer.  Maybe she’s awful at first impressions.  She was definitely trying too hard.”

“She clearly thought we’d be a lot more impressed with her than we are.”

“I don’t know, she does kind of impress me.  It really does take a lot to push back against all that Homeworld conditioning, especially still living there.  Okay, it came from being peeved that she didn’t get her own way, but she did a lot more about it than you’d think if there was nothing else to it, right?  I think she’s got potential.”

“Lapis said she thought you were soft on her because she’s cute.”

“Lapis is cynical and grumpy.  And also cute.”  She traced her fingers up and down the line of Pearl’s spine.  “I’ll admit I’m soft on  _ her.  _  Look how I’m letting her paralyse my arm.”

“True.  You’re a terrible softie.”

“Hope we’re not going to wake her up.”

“My  _ plan _ is to wake her up, but gently, to the sound of our quiet voices talking affectionately.”

“Oh, sneaky.  See, this is why I leave strategy decisions to you.”

“My plan is also to tell you I love you.”

“That’s a great plan.  I love  _ you.” _

“What does your dashing star movie man say?  ‘I know’?  Which I always think is very cocky of him.”

“No, it’s not, it’s not, he says that because he knows Leia is afraid he  _ doesn’t _ know she loves him and he’s only thinking of her and wanting to give her all the comfort he can with what might be his last words.  It’s not ‘ha ha, I know, I win,’ it’s ‘it’s okay, even if you never said it, I know.’”

“Oh, that’s much more tolerable.”

“He’s a very tolerable person.  Probably my favourite character after Leia.”

“I have to ask something, and it may be a strange question.”  Pearl was doodling patterns on Jasper’s chest with her forefinger.

“Ask away.”

“Well, if you knew a man like that, do you think you’d fall in love with him?”

“That is a  _ super _ strange question.”

“You don’t have to answer.”

“I’d have to  _ think of  _ an answer.  I have no idea, I never thought about it.”

“No, that’s a good answer in itself.  I am greatly reassured.”

“Like I know you get anxious and think of all kinds of possibilities, but ‘what if Han Solo steals my girlfriend?’ is a real stretch.”

“No, that wasn’t the question, the question was predicated on you knowing an actual present-day real-world man  _ like _ him.  Does that change the answer?”

“Would he be, like, a trucker?”

“Does  _ that _ change the answer?”

“No, I’m just trying to figure out who he could be in the present day real world Earth.  I’m committing to this weird little scenario you’ve come up with.  No, even if he had a  _ really _ great truck and a big shaggy dog called Chewy I can’t imagine falling in love with him, but I’d probably want to be friends.  That okay?”

“Perfectly okay.”

“We’re probably going to hang out talking about how awesome and tough and smart and pretty our girlfriends are, so you know.”

“Do you  _ like _ trucks?”

“Uh… they’re okay?”

“I’m sure I could get that old one in the barn running, and you could ride in the back!  We could go on long road trips, would you like that?”

“What happened to the Pearl World Tour?”

“Oh yes!  That!  We really must - although it’ll be hard to go with the newcomers here, we can’t just take off.  Dratted Celestine.”

“Yeah,  _ drat  _ her.”  Jasper slid her hand down Pearl’s back and cupped her bottom.  “By the way, she’s definitely not as cute as you.”

“Oh, I’m not worried about  _ that.” _

“No?  Because you know you’re the cutest?”

“No, I just think she’s too irritating for her cuteness to matter, even with a big sweet softie like you.”  She kissed Jasper’s nose, then snuggled down to tuck her head under her chin.  She grew quiet, lying there with her fingers idly twirling a lock of hair that fell over Jasper’s shoulder.  Jasper breathed in deeply and exhaled slowly, feeling a deep, warm peace settle into her body.  Pearl was back where she belonged, close to her, and nothing could really be wrong.

 

_ Why do I have to say such inane things? _  Pearl closed her eyes, trying to draw comfort from Jasper’s steady breathing and the wonderful way she smelled.   _ Asking absurd questions about whether she’d fall in love with a real version of a fictional character and then changing the subject to  _ trucks.   _ Why do I  _ still _ worry about Jasper with men?  Even apparently fictional men.  It’s even more ridiculous when I consider that she’s far more likely to - well, I don’t know  _ what _ to think about that mess with Blue Opal.  It’s so strange to be  _ angry _ with one of my own fusions, but really, how could she?  Except she must have been so afraid and confused and there was Jasper all warm and strong and beautiful and perhaps she actually showed quite a lot of restraint.  And I’ve never actually  _ told _ Jasper that no, kissing Blue is definitely not the same as kissing me and/or Lapis, and she  _ is _ naïve about fusion in some ways, and I probably need to say it outright.   _

_ I’ll say it in the morning.  I want tonight to just be warm and loving and sweet.  I want the three of us to melt into one again.  I wonder what a fusion of we three would be like?  Beautiful and fierce and probably quite weird.  Would we just keep adding on pairs of limbs?   Would she turn out like a caterpillar?    _ She bit her lip to smother a giggle at the mental picture.  They might be able to try it one of these days, but the partnership between Jasper and Lapis needed to grow stronger first.  It really had worried her to hear the way they talked about Malachite, let alone the way she talked about herself.  Maybe it was just in her nature to be brusque in her speech.  Jasper could be coarse and Lapis could be sharp.  

Lapis should wake up, quite frankly.  It was such a waste of time to sleep this long when there was reuniting to be done.  Pearl reached out and traced lightly around Lapis’ teardrop with one fingertip.  She tried writing “hello” just above it. 

“Whatcha doing there?” Jasper asked, her voice a low, warm rumble that Pearl felt through her chest as much as she heard it.  

“Subtle pestering?” Pearl suggested.  She traced the words “I love you” across Lapis’ shoulders, under her trailing bow.  No response.  “Wake up, jellyfish” and “I want to kiss your pussy,” which was really a bit blunt, also didn't stir her.  

“Tell her she can sit on my face again,” Jasper murmured.  “You can too.  I kind of want to drown in pussy tonight.  Get smothered with soft drippy lips and feel your hips shaking when you come.”

“And I thought my messages were getting a bit smutty,” Pearl said, turning her head to kiss the nearest bit of Jasper to her mouth, near the collarbone.  “You’ve just raised the bar, or knocked it right down, depending how we look at it.”

“Seriously, if I got to spend the whole night going down on you one after the other I’d feel really lucky.”

“That's very self-denying of you.”

“No it isn't.  I’d be frigging myself like crazy.  Maybe humping a pillow if my wrist got sore.  Or the one  _ not _ currently getting her world rocked at any given point could always go round the back and fist me.  You know how much I love that.”

“Is  _ that  _ why you're always flowing like a fountain and mewling like a cat in heat when I do it?  I never would have guessed.”

“If you're going to talk like this I don't know how I'm gonna do on this gently waking Lapis up plan.”

“You’ll do beautifully.  Besides, she might be tempted back to consciousness by the smell of your blossoming pussy.”

“Aw fuck…”  Jasper pressed a kiss down on Pearl’s shoulder, her large, warm hand spreading and then tightening on her bottom. 

“You know it does smell.  It's a very pleasant, musky kind of scent.  I like to think it's your body advertising its arousal, saying ‘come and get me.’  I love how completely  _ un _ subtle it is.  Spread your legs and let it… waft, I suppose.”

_ “Fuck,”  _ Jasper repeated fervently, parting her massive thighs. 

“Good girl.  So obedient.  You’ll be obedient for Lapis too, won't you?”

“Yes.   _ Yes.” _

“That's such a sweet thought.  I can imagine you as our pet, you know, lying curled on a cushion between us while we cosily read or sew or sharpen weapons or whatever, and then when either of us chirrups to you and pats her pussy you’d just surge up with your tongue out ready.”

_ “Pearl.”   _ There was a fizz of laughter as well as a rasp of desire in Jasper’s voice now, and she knew she was being silly and it was such  _ fun  _ to go on embroidering the picture. 

“We certainly didn't know when we got you what a demanding little pet you’d be.  Permanently in heat, constantly mounting any object solid enough to grind yourself on, leaving a warm damp patch wherever you sit, whining and presenting whenever one of us enters the room - what a sight, those raised hindquarters with your thighs all slick and wet, your great engorged labia flaring open and your clitoris taut and stiff and curved like a claw, all this and you looking back at us over your shoulder with such an earnest look of entreaty.  We just can't leave you in such a state, it seems cruel.”

Jasper made a muffled sound against her shoulder, very much like the begging whine she’d described.  

“Is this nice?  This little story I’m telling you?”

_ “Hnnnh.” _

“Want me to go on?  Take it further?”

“Mmhm.”

“I can't take you for walkies in public.  How could I explain that to anyone who saw us? I'm sorry, my pet can't get through her constitutional without shivering and panting and humping the air until I sink my hand into her sopping wet cleft past the wrist and massage her to orgasm?”

“That's obscene,” Jasper said, and kissed her shoulder again to make it clear it wasn't an objection. 

“I suppose it is a bit, and so is the trail of drips you left on the way there, and the steaming puddle that resulted from your pleasure.  It's lucky there aren't any other Jaspers locally or we’d have a pack of them following us every time we set foot outside.  If I relaxed my vigilance at all you’d vanish under a growling, thrusting pile of them.  Which of course you’d love.  The only drawback would be that when I finally threw sufficient buckets of cold water to drive the rampaging beasts away you'd be lying there semi-comatose from so many orgasms in rapid succession, and you’re really far too heavy to carry home.”

Jasper made a kind of moaning growl of delight and embarrassment and mostly base animal lust and rolled her hips against Pearl.  

“Do you need me to do it now?”

_ “Yes,  _ please, yes.”

“I think if your heat continues uninterrupted I’ll have to come up with some more efficient solution.”   Pearl got up on her hands and knees and backed down over Jasper’s body, pausing to drop a kiss here and there on the way.  Lapis would just have to miss out if she was so stubborn about sleeping.  “I’ll build a machine to service you.  You’ll like it.”   It was getting tricky, though she tried to keep up a confident tone. She was reaching the point where she worried she'd say something that she  _ thought _ would be sexy but was really too much and just made Jasper think she was weird and awful, even if she'd never yet found the point where that actually happened.  She crouched between thick, soft, heavily muscled thighs, feeling the heat radiate from Jasper’s skin, and combed her fingers through the coarse tangle of her pubic hair, finding her lips swollen and slick and her clitoris jutting out eagerly.  That was encouraging, and made her own pussy give an exultant little squish in response. 

“We’ll just back you into the harness,” she explained, slipping two fingers between Jasper’s lips and sliding them up and down, “which I think will make you feel safe when you're properly restrained.  It will support you, too, when your legs give out.  I’ll buckle you in and Lapis will make sure all the straps are pulled tight.  You'll be in the most natural position for you, on all fours, which means you won't be able to  _ see  _ the machine but you'll be able to feel the first attachment when in slides in between your sweating thighs to cup and mould itself to your pussy.”   _ I have no idea what sort of material you could make this from, it's a good thing I’m only inventing a story for someone too aroused to demand plausible technology.  _

“Then?” Jasper breathed.

“Well, at first the vibration would be sweet relief and I dare say you’d have a climax or two from that alone.  The harness would creak and squeak as you rocked your heavy hips, but I made it strong enough for an elephant so it should be able to contain  _ you.   _ We’d stroke your hair and tell you what a good, pretty little pet you were, and you’d lick our hands so gratefully.  You’d get frustrated, though, because I know how you are about inner stimulation.”  She pressed her fingers into the hot well of Jasper’s vagina and felt her shudder with pleasure.  

“So you would be panting, and mewling, and your hips would be shaking and twitching, and it would feel  _ oh  _ so good and yet still not  _ enough.  _  The juice would be running down your thighs in rivulets, your pussy would be  _ squelching  _ with every stroke against the attachment, and you'd start whimpering in real distress.  I think we’d enjoy your distress, just for a little bit, because you’re so beautiful when you're desperate.  But we’d relent in the end, because we do love you after all, and I’d turn the switch for the  _ next  _ attachment.”  She slid all four fingers in, her thumb curled into her palm, and bore in, Jasper grunting softly as her pussy was filled. 

“That means the cup attachment slides forward to just embrace your clitoris, because we never ever want to neglect your glorious rampant clitoris, and the probe attachment glides in so smoothly because your gaping pussy is so silky wet.  I hope you know our pussies are hot and wet too, watching you.  We’re both masturbating.  I don't know if you can really see or hear us, though, you’re in such a haze.  Your whole consciousness is centred in your pussy - you know, as opposed to the usual 75%.  The probe is flexible too, so it bends and fits the curve inside you, and once it’s in place and so deep you can't believe it, it thickens until even your huge pussy is stretched tight around it, just as tight as mine around your thick middle finger.  That's what it's like, a huge thick finger curled into your-”

“Cunt,” Jasper added breathlessly. 

“All right, I know you like your dirty words, a huge thick finger curled into your cunt and starting to beckon.  You know that motion?  Just like this.”  She kept the stroke of her hand steady, concentrating on the front wall of Jasper’s pussy where there was an interesting softly pebbled texture.  “And the first one is still working at your clitoris, just like this.”  She set her other thumb and forefinger either side of the shaft and worked them firmly up and down.  Jasper’s breath burst out of her in a rush and she gasped for more, her hips surging against Pearl’s hands. 

“And you’re just in ecstasy now, your eyes have rolled back and your mouth is open panting and I must say, my darling, you’re dribbling more than a little, and you pump yourself back onto that thick stroking finger with total abandon, and orgasms begin just rolling through you one after another.  You don't have time to recover from the first before the next is upon you and your whole body seizes and convulses with pleasure.  It's exactly what a rutting animal like you needs, and you’re growling and moaning with joy, and a hot jet of pussy-juice just sprays out of you with every climax.  We’re counting them off and laughing at your dear sweet funny face.”

“Th-then?”   Jasper’s face was flushed dark in the faint silver light, and her heavy brows were drawn together in that worshipful, ecstatic way that looked close to pain, and speaking meant she had to release her full lower lip from the pressure of her teeth, shining white in the dark, before biting down again.  

“Well, then we leave you to it.  You see, this is your punishment for embarrassing us whenever we go out, flopping down and lying on your back with your legs spread, panting, or getting your leash tangled between your legs and riding on it, or just crouching down and rubbing your pussy on the bare ground if nothing else is available.  We’ve told you ‘naughty!’ and ‘dirty!’ and bopped you on the nose with a rolled-up magazine but it doesn't make the least impression; you just wanted us to cram the magazine into your pussy, and to be fair it seemed to calm you down a bit for ten minutes or so, though it looked very odd poking out of you, and after that all the pages were so sodden that it went soft and slipped out and you started whining again and mounted a fire hydrant and I swear you looked like you’d got it halfway in before we managed to drag you off and I had to spank you  _ hard  _ with the end of your leash.  You finished up your walk with a very red bottom and very red cheeks and you acted very penitent and submissive all night but it didn't  _ teach _ you anything; you were just as bad the next day.”

Jasper was  _ giggling  _ even while she puffed and grunted, her pussy tightening in rhythmic squeezes around Pearl’s wrist.  “This is so pervy. Keep going.”   

“So since you’re only capable of thinking with your pussy, and since all you want is sex, we thought it would be very apt to give you more sex than you could cope with.  Soon you’re exhausted.  The incessant orgasms are making your - your cunt muscles ache and your clitoris is so swollen it feels as if it might split like an overripe plum, and you  _ still _ can't stop coming.  You're so desperately overstimulated that every stroke is painful, and you’re  _ still _ feebly trying to pump your hips, even when you’ve long since lost the use of your legs and you’re just hanging in the straps of your harness.  We really didn't realise how much it would take to overpower you.  You last a whole two hours, during which you faint twice but rally before we have time to unstrap you, before you finally begin to cry and beg us to let you out and stop your pussy hurting.  It's the first time you've spoken intelligibly in days; we really think we’ve managed to pound the animal out of you.”

Jasper gasped sharply, clenched her buttocks and lifted her hips off the bed, jerking and stuttering in a messy, gushy climax.  “Oh Pearl - oh Pearl - oh  _ Pearl!” _   She slumped down, her legs sprawling, breathing as if she'd run a hard race, a long low moan of weary pleasure escaping from her.  Pearl stroked her fluttering belly and kissed her tangled mound, gradually slowing the motion of her hand to a stop.  

“That was the most lavishly detailed filth I think I’ve ever heard,” Lapis mumbled sleepily, rolling over against Jasper's side.  “What do we do to her next?”

“Oh, so you  _ are _ awake?” Pearl asked. 

“I’ve been awake for ages, but you two were ignoring me so I just listened.  Hmm… I think I picked up about where you were telling Jasper how smelly her pussy is, can't really remember anything before that.”

“I didn't call it  _ smelly.” _

“You said it smells.  Same difference.”  She hugged Jasper, who was still panting hoarsely but beginning to recover.  “Smelly pussy, sloppy cunt, that's what you like to hear, isn't it?”

“Mmhm.”  Jasper brushed a kiss against the top of Lapis’ head.  

“And dirty animal too.  I didn't know that pet game of yours got so rough.”

“Well, there's what we can actually do and then there's all the fantasies,” Pearl admitted, easing her hand out of Jasper’s pussy, soft and slack now, and absent-mindedly tasting her fingers.  There was a very pleasant creaminess to the depths of Jasper after prolonged stimulation.  “The fantasies get very extravagant.”

“I know - naked public walkies?  Well, I assumed she was naked for that part.”

“Somehow I always imagine the town is full of strangers for things like that, though.”

“Fuck yeah, not anyone we really  _ know,” _ Jasper agreed.  “That wouldn't get me off at all.  They're just kind of generic staring shocked strangers.  I think they're mostly Gems.”

“Yes, like the roving packs of rutting Jaspers that apparently infest the landscape.  I liked how you’d just got done saying there weren't any around before a segue into how they’d pounce on our Jasper and fuck her into the ground.”

“I’m not trying to construct a coherent narrative with developed characters and themes,” Pearl objected, breaking off from sucking her fingers.  “It’s more of a free-form improvisation where I elaborate on anything that seems to be getting a reaction out of Jasper.  Well, or that I really enjoy imagining.  I like all the parts where she exposes herself and begs for sex and gets all incoherent and animalistic.  Oh, and the compulsive masturbation!  That's my favourite, I  _ love  _ the thought that she can't stop herself.”

“Where did the fucking machine come from?  It just seemed to spring fully formed from your fevered brow.”

“You never know what the quiet little Gem next to you is thinking, do you?”  The quiet little Gem was currently feeling very lucky that all that depravity had found an appreciative audience. 

“All right, you're a perverted genius.  Now what do we do to her next?  The poor thing is hanging in her straps and crying.”

“Yeah, I’m worried about me,” Jasper said, pulling Lapis up closer in a sidelong hug.  “What do you do?”

“Oh, we take the best possible care of you, of course.  Lapis will hold your head while I power down the machine and prise the attachments out of your poor swollen battered pussy.  It's risky work because the floor’s so slippery with your puddles.  You have a last broken orgasm as the probe slips out of you and it makes you cry harder, so Lapis kisses you and cradles your head on her breast while I loosen the straps and ease you to the ground.  No, I haven't thought this through, you can't walk and we certainly can't lift you, and it won't be good for you to just lie in a puddle of your own making.”

“I could crawl on my elbows and drag my legs if I have to,” Jasper offered.  

“No, sweetheart, you shouldn't have to.  You’ve endured so much.  No, I’ll just add castors to the part of the machine with your harness, and uncouple it from the rear portion with the motor and the attachments, and we’ll  _ roll  _ you over to ease you into a warm shallow bath, just right for you, and there we can undo all the straps and stroke you and soothe you and bathe all your sore places and you can just rest in our arms.  And all the while we’ll be telling you how good and obedient and beautiful you are and what a strong brave girl you were in the machine, coming and coming and hardly crying at all.”

“I’m sure the crying was exhaustion more than anything else,” Lapis said, giving Jasper’s belly a friendly little pat.  “You know how it is when you're tired.  Not like you to be a wimp about a bit of devastating vaginal pain.”

“I wasn't imagining devastating pain - like not  _ sharp  _ pain, more like deep muscle ache and bruise pain.  Like my pussy’s been in a fist fight.”

“Your pussy would  _ like _ to be in a fist fight, wouldn't it?”

“Anyway, the kind where you’re sore as blazes but also really proud of yourself for how you got that way and that makes it sort of good.”

“Your relationship with pain and mine are very different.  I guess I never learned to associate it with  _ achievement.”   _ Lapis snuggled down with her cheek on Jasper's breast as a pillow. 

“Well, we are proud of you, dearest Jasper,” Pearl went on, “and we’re telling you so all the while we bathe you and very gently pat you dry with the softest towels and dab soothing creams onto the sore places and, at your particular request, kiss your pussy better.  You wince at the pain when we do, but you're insistent that kissing better is absolutely necessary to heal your injuries.  So we dot the lightest softest kisses onto your bruised, distended clitoris and labia, and you sniff back your tears and tell us it feels a little bit better.  And we bandage you up, like soft little underpants of white gauze, so your pussy’s all protected and -  and hygienic.  And for the rest of the day we just absolutely spoil you rotten.  You lie across our laps and we brush your hair and sing to you and massage your sore limbs and every now and then you say your pussy needs treatment so we’ll administer another very light kissing-better over the top of your bandages and you'll give a wan little smile like the brave convalescent you are.  Finally we tuck you up on your favourite cushion with your favourite blanket and kiss you good night and let you sleep it off.”

“And then at some unearthly hour of the morning you crash into our room baying to be fucked some more,” Lapis concluded cheerfully.  “Because you’re incorrigible.  Sooner or later we'll just chain you up outside at night and let the local pack have  at you.”

“Noooo, I want Pearl and you.  I mean I’d also  _ enjoy _ being gang-banged but not  _ instead of  _ being with you.”

“Ah, but imagine you howling at the moon with a great big orange fist jammed up your cunt.”

“Howling with loneliness because I miss having a little white fist and a little blue one jammed up it.”

“That’s a lot to express with a howl.”

“No, no, we’re not putting Jasper out to be ravished by passing creatures of the night.  She’d get cold and anyway I’d be too jealous.  She stays inside with us.  Even if she gets a bit tiring, I love my sloppy licky always-in-heat pet and I’m happy to rub her tummy and tickle her pussy when she lies down in front of me and spreads her legs so nicely.”  Pearl crawled back up to lie on Jasper’s belly and kissed her on the nose.  “It’s just tricky getting her to understand the difference between what's very pleasing behaviour at home in private and what's rather embarrassing in public.”

“Well, I  _ am _ only an animal.  I mean - getting realistic for a sec, you can't really train them that something's okay to do at home but not anywhere else.  But this isn't even a little bit realistic so that's okay.  And I love my mistress Pearl who takes good care of me even when I  _ am _ backing up to her expectantly for the fourth time today and both her arms already feel like rubber.”  She squeezed Pearl’s waist with  the crook of her arm and kissed her cheek.  

“Now we have the machine, though, I can experiment on you to work out some solutions.  After exhaustive testing over a period of several days, we establish that if I put you on the machine for an hour a day - that's fifteen minutes’ warm-up with the cup and forty-five minutes’ deep pounding with the probe - and then give you an hour to recover, you’ll be so subdued that you’ll be perfectly behaved on walkies, and I’ll be very proud of you with your strong limbs and your smooth skin and silky hair shining in the sun, your head high and your eyes bright and alert - and if you do usually tend to have a  _ little  _ dribble escaping between your pussy lips and glazing your thighs that's really not your fault.  You’re in heat after all.  Everyone can see that, not to mention smell it.  We have a lovely peaceful walk and then your subdued mood starts to wear off on the way home, so you're arching your back and displaying and making little whimpering sounds, but by then you’ve been so good I’m happy to reward you, so I let you stretch out on the grass in the sun and I bring you off very gently and sweetly with my mouth.”

“Is she moving on all fours this whole time?  I just want to be sure I’m imagining the filth  _ correctly.” _

“Of course.  Pet Jasper is an animal and wouldn't know how to walk on her hind legs.  Also, when you stand upright your pussy’s somewhat concealed between your legs, which is practical and safe for normal activities but not quite right for a silly fantasy about being perpetually sexually aroused and on display.  So she  _ needs _ to be on all fours so her pussy’s nice and visible and accessible, and you or I can lay hands on it at any time.”

“We keep talking about my pussy, which is great, feel free, but I feel like we ignored my tits a bit this time,” Jasper said thoughtfully.  

“True.  I'm fairly sure that in addition to the futile magazine-bopping, our disciplinary attempts included putting clamps on your nipples linked with a chain, and giving it a sharp pull when you misbehaved.  It curbed you a few times but then you started enjoying that kind of pain and trying to provoke us to get it.”

“There's also a version of this where I get my pussy spanked in public, hard and often,” Jasper told Lapis.  “So of course I only get worse because the humiliation is turning me on so much, and I'm all whining and pawing at myself and finally lie down in the middle of the sidewalk and won't move till Pearl lets me come - puddle time, I squirt  _ constantly  _ in this fantasy - and then I get a  _ real _ thrashing when we get home.  Last time she used a cane.”

“I think I  _ have _ a nice old cane somewhere, although I only ever used it as an accessory in my Edwardian dandy phase,” Pearl said.  “If you ever want to really try that, we can.”

“What’s an  _ Edwardian dandy?”  _

“It's a fashion thing.  You have to give humans this, for all their limitations they design lovely clothes.”

“Put it in the maybe list for the next blowout,” Jasper said.  “Last time we went heavy on praise and spoiling and it was awesome, but I feel like getting punished more next time.”

“So perhaps your princess summons you to her palace to punish some transgression?”  Pearl got up on her knees and rummaged in the bookshelf for the notebook, and Jasper stretched one arm up to snap on the little lamp.  “Thank you, darling, always helpful.”  She found it and the pencil box and sat back down comfortably cross-legged, using Jasper’s firm midriff as a desk.  She flicked through the notebook, found the current “maybe” list and chose a nice peach-pink gel pen from the selection available.  “Cane, punishment,” she said aloud as she noted them down.  

“Can I see?” Lapis asked, propping herself up on one elbow.  “You have such pretty writing.  Oh, and it's all colour coded.”

“Warm colours for provocative and stimulating actions, cool colours for soothing and calming ones,” Pearl explained.  

“What's this about a princess?” 

“It's silly,” Jasper said quickly. 

“Jasper, I’ve just listened to an extended impromptu storytelling session all about you being an animal in heat and getting fucked into quivering submission by an infernal machine.  I'm prepared for this to be silly.”  Lapis gave Jasper a gentle poke in the cheek with her forefinger.  “Also, I enjoyed it.  It's got me wet and I want to hear about more of you and Pearl’s weird shenanigans before I demand my own pussy-massage.”

“It  _ is  _ rather silly, I guess, but we always enjoy it.  We live in a fairy-tale sort of realm and I’m the  imperious princess and Jasper is my humble subject, that's all.”  Pearl flipped back in the book to show her the sketch of herself in her royal garments.  Lapis gave a low whistle. 

“You’d look beautiful in that.  How come I’ve never seen that outfit?”

“I was being discreet.  You weren't involved yet.  Next time you can help me put it on if you like - and you can help me lace up Jasper, that's really a two-person job.”

“But the pretty corset’s for when I’ve been  _ good _ ,” Jasper said.  “Pearl just plays two characters for that, first she's the lady-in-waiting who gets me all dressed up to meet the princess, then she gets changed and she  _ is  _ the princess.  So when I’ve been good she summons me to reward me and I’ve never seen such beautiful clothes, that kind of thing, they're so silky and lacy and seriously, you're going to love how the corset makes my tits look.  Well,  _ I  _ love the way it makes my tits look. Makes me really short of breath, too, but that's part of the point.  That one’s fun because I’m playing it all innocent like I’ve never had sex before and she's all seductive and… yeah.”

_ “But _ when I summon you for punishment, it's true, mostly you’re just stripped naked and most of what you  _ wear _ is bindings.  Sometimes she plays it guilty, she's ashamed of herself and it's such a relief to be punished, and sometimes she's defiant until I break her spirit and she cries.  I think it would be interesting if I summoned you for a reward but it gave you a swelled head so I turned it into a punishment on the spot to humble you again.  That way you  _ could  _ wear the corset too.”

“What's she actually  _ done?”  _ Lapis asked, browsing through the notebook with interest.  “To be punished for, or do you skip background and get straight to the thrashing?”

“We’ve trumped up various things,” Pearl said. “We pinched a bit from Greek mythology, where a hunter accidentally sees Artemis bathing in the forest, although Artemis was a lot more wrathful than I am and I think she set her dogs on him and they rent him limb from limb.  Or she stole the golden apples from my sacred orchard or didn't bow when my carriage passed, we can always think of  _ something.” _

“Once she did the whole thing of going to the marketplace in disguise as a commoner, and I pinched her butt, and she tied me up and pinched  _ my _ butt all over with clothespins,” Jasper said reminiscently.  “I was so damn sore the next day I was limping.  You should’ve seen my ass, I had polka dots.”

“That one served you right,” Lapis said, pausing over a sketch plan for Jasper’s restraints in the golden apples scenario. 

“Oh, I know.  That's what made it satisfying.”

“Pearl, did you seriously stuff an apple up her cunt?”  Lapis tapped the diagram with one finger. 

“No, that never got past the concept drawing stage.  I was concerned about it getting stuck or crushed, not that it would do her any harm but  _ I  _ don't want to engage with a pussy full of applesauce.  In the end I put it in her mouth and told her if she could bear what I did without biting down she'd be rewarded but if the apple was so much as bruised the punishments would just get more severe.  She bit it in half when I twisted her nipples so it was a good thing I had a basket of spares.”  Pearl paused, thinking.  “Lapis, would  _ you _ like to play the lady-in-waiting, the one who gets Jasper dressed up for me, but because we're not  _ quite  _ sure she deserves my favour your job is to test her and tempt her into saying or doing something wicked and prideful, which she does, and then when you bring her before me and she's all puffed up thinking she’s the bee’s knees, you denounce her and we punish her together?”

“I wouldn't like to, I would  _ love  _ to.  Do you want me to do that, Jasper?”

“Heck yes, you’d be great at that.”

“You’d… feel comfortable with me doing that?” Lapis asked, and her voice was much softer than usual. 

Jasper reached up to brush a strand of Lapis’ hair back from her cheek with her thumb.  “Yeah,” she said quietly, “why not?”

“I’m  _ so _ not going to answer that,” Lapis said with a brief shaky laugh.  “Okay, does that go in the book?” 

“Absolutely,” Pearl said firmly, trying not to go all fragile and useless and weepy, and just about succeeding by dint of a huge sniff.  “You go here under dramatis personae.  Lady-in-waiting to the princess and general strumpet, Lapis Lazuli.”

“Don't forget the riding boots,” said Jasper. 

“Do forget the riding boots,” said Lapis.  “I’ll do a lot of things to give you two a thrill but I hate wearing shoes.  The very most I’ll wear is sandals.”

“Noted,” said Pearl.  “That's important, to tell me anything you  _ don't  _ want to do, even if it seems very minor.   I don't like anything to spoil things, and it's important to have a clear plan and stick to it.  In a  _ fantasy  _ you can do things like springing an unexpected punishment on Jasper and you can just  _ fantasise _ that it all turns out all right.  The whole point in real life is to give her what she's asked for and nothing she hasn't.  Which applies equally to you - please don't ever think we want you to go along with something that makes you feel uncomfortable or that you just don't enjoy.”

“What about spontaneity, though?”

“Spontaneity is nice when Jasper isn't tied up and in a position where she could actually be hurt or get badly upset if something she’s not expecting happens.  It's important for you to abide by that or - well, you just couldn't be involved.  I'm sorry, it wouldn't be right.”

“No, no, understood. Ooh, is this one  _ me?” _

“It's just an idea, you don't have to wear it, I haven't even made it yet,” Pearl demurred.  She'd got so excited designing Lapis’ costume that she'd needed masturbation breaks, but it was no good if  _ she  _ wouldn't feel sexy in it, and really why should she?  It was probably a bit presumptuous to have started without consultation. 

“I mean, I get why you  _ want _ me to wear the boots, they're ridiculously hot, but I don't think I could even walk in them.  I like the rest of it.  Especially the flouncy lacy thing round my neck.”

“It's called a jabot.  I actually ended up doing more of a footman thing than a lady-in-waiting because I just thought you’d look so  _ good,”  _ Pearl babbled, flushed with relief. 

“But I’m not  _ playing  _ a man, am I?”

“No, it's only clothes.  Do you like them?”

“I think I do.”

“But it just won't work with bare feet or sandals.  I’ll need to do something much more neoclassical.  Don't worry, it will still be lovely and nothing gets made without your full approval.”

“Can I still have a lacy neck thing?”

“I’ll work it in.  Jasper, I hope you don't get too desperate to be chastised too soon, this means an overhaul of the royal aesthetic.  I  _ love _ a project.”

“Fine by me, but put in the maybe column putting something in my mouth again, that apple stuff was messy but fun.”

“All right, I’ll tolerate some food mess.  It doesn't go in  _ my _ mouth.  Would some other fruit or vegetable be all right if it were more thematically appropriate, since we're not doing the golden apples again?”

“You find a fruit or vegetable that's thematically appropriate for caning and you can stick it anywhere you want.”

“Well, obviously a stick of sugarcane.”

“You're so smart!” Jasper said, delighted. 

“Whether I can  _ get _ any is another matter but yes, yes I am.”

“I’m honestly impressed,” Lapis said.  “You two are so thorough.  Look at all these checklists.”

“I like to do things  _ properly,”  _ Pearl said, quietly but deeply gratified by the recognition of her efficiency.  

“Can I put something else under maybe?” Jasper asked.  “Doing it in your room for a change.  I need to practise going in there more before I know if I can be comfortable enough but I’m warming up to the idea.”

“Fingers crossed,” said Pearl, and marked it down in neutral pencil, since she wasn't at all sure yet whether that counted as stimulating or soothing. 

“Your room  _ is _ more palacey.”

“It's actually quite pretty!” Lapis said, in a fairly good impression of Celestine.  “Did you tell Jasper about that, Pearl?”

“Yeah, she's a rude little so-and-so,” Jasper said, grinning lazily.  “I guess Garnet and I’ll have to bash out another room down here and I'll have neighbours.  I hope they're not noisy.”

“She’ll  _ love  _ living in a cave,” Lapis said, grinning back.  She sat up and clapped her hands together.  “Time to put the book away and screw around again.  I have unmet needs and so does Pearl, since you neglected us so horribly with your selfish  _ sleeping.” _

“Don't say that,” Pearl protested, “she was really feeling guilty about it.”

“Fun to play on it and tease you about it guilty or guilty-guilty?”

“Depends,” Jasper said, “are you mad-mad?”

“I’m only playing.  You must have been exhausted, I’d be heartless to really blame you for nodding off.”

“Go for it, then.”

“Well!” Lapis said with malicious glee, “you should have seen how we suffered!  We came staggering in  _ racked  _ by desire, whimpering and clutching at ourselves and sure you were going to take care of us and there you were  _ snoring. _  Poor Pearl nearly fainted and I had to apply emergency cunnilingus.”

“You little liar,” Pearl said, amused, “it was you that sat down on her leg and tried to hump her awake.”

“Alas, to no avail because Pearl dragged me off you and we reverted to the mutual masturbation plan - very sleepily ourselves, I’ll admit.  She just lifted my skirt and I slipped my hand into her pants and we kissed and rubbed till we each had a lovely little  _ mild _ orgasm to hold us over.  Then we just settled down, but obviously first we swore revenge.”

“I didn't swear any revenge at all,” Pearl assured Jasper, and kissed her cheek.  “And I knew you'd take care of me as soon as you were rested.”

“A-ha!  But she hasn't!  She  _ selfishly  _ just lay there and let  _ you _ exert yourself in vast feats of dirty-talk while you tirelessly manipulated her  _ greedy  _ pussy.  Jasper, your first order of business is to make it up to Pearl.  But I’ll help because I feel like spoiling her too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ETA: The fucking machine has been better received than I dared hope. Actual real-world fucking machines tend to be pretty utilitarian and functional but obviously any machine designed by Pearl would have an *~aesthetic~* even if she had to bolt it on, so I think it's important to mention that it's rococo. A rococo fucking machine. It has more gilded twiddles on it than a carousel (and also a lot more dildos and paddles and things on it than _most_ carousels). It also chimes the hours and quarters, if only to let Jasper know how long she's been there. (The chiming involves a little automaton Lapis and a little automaton Jasper emerging on tracks from two decorative doors, meeting in the middle of the track and little tin Lapis giving little tin Jasper the appropriate number of smacks on the bum; ding! ding! ding!) There are taps on the side that dispense lubricants, massage oil and plain warm water for hosing Jasper off if she's too messy. Pearl had to be reminded to stop _somewhere._
> 
> Lapis having casually mentioned some of this to Peridot, she is working furiously on a rival fucking machine with a space-age aesthetic and chrome fins. The fins don't do anything. They just make it look more aerodynamic.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I haven't updated in a very long time and I'm sorry about that! I stalled badly on this story, in part because I have complicated feelings about how things are developing in the show and because the versions of the characters I've developed here have ended up being so distant from their canon development. That's slightly awkward to manage mentally without feeling as if I'm doing something incorrectly. It's also because I started writing yet another Jasper fix-it story, Back to Beta, and have been pretty focused on that (it's got a lot of crying and hugging and self-loathing and siblingly love). However, I did manage to get back into the groove of this enough to produce this. I do, in fact, more or less know what happens from here on; it's just finding the right frame of mind to write it out that often eludes me. Anyway, it's mostly Pearl being very happily spoiled and some problems being acknowledged but not really resolved, so yay!

“Both of you?” Pearl asked.

“I think we should work as a team more,” said Lapis.  “Oh!  Hold this thought for the notebook: lady-in-waiting instructs penitent subject on how to please princess and earn her pardon.  Do ideas for the pet game go in the book too?  Because I want to be the sly naughty little pet who gets Jasper into trouble by making it look like  _ she _ did things  _ I _ did.  Oh, this is good.  And can I have more than one character in the princess game?  An informant.  Or the lady-in-waiting could do this too as a spy.  I’ll  _ snitch  _ on Jasper and tell you all the furtive bad things she’s been doing.  Both ways I gloat and play with myself while you punish her.”

“That  _ may _ have to conclude with a plot twist where I let Jasper take some form of revenge on you,” Pearl said.  “Or at least where you get a good hard spanking too.”  She actually loved the idea of sly pet Lapis tormenting a poor earnest Jasper-beast but felt she had to maintain some semblance of justice.

“Fine by me.  Maybe  _ I _ get strapped into the fucking machine.  Is there a royal fucking machine?” she asked, her mouth curling in a teasing smile.

“If there were it would be very ornate, but no, I think the princess prefers to mete out pleasure and pain more directly and personally.  Well, also the princess is a character I  _ play _ so the things she does have to be practically possible.  I’m sure I  _ could _ build a machine a bit like that but honestly, I think I prefer the idea of it to making it real.  Then it would have  _ limitations.” _

“Boring old limitations like physics,” Lapis agreed, pushing the book and pens off Jasper’s belly and leaning across her to kiss Pearl.  

“Maybe you like the idea of getting jabbed in the backside with pens all through the bed but I’m not crazy about it,” Jasper grumbled, sitting up and dislodging both of them to gather the things together and drop them on the floor.

“Moving the clutter to the floor does not solve the problem,” Pearl said sternly.

“Close enough,” Jasper said, kissing her in turn as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in against the massive, sturdy warmth of her body.  “And now we get to spoil you.  Don’t we?  How do you want us to start?”

Pearl giggled, feeling answering warmth rising up in her, that bubbling, still-surprised joy at being where she found herself and so openly, avidly wanted.  “Well, I can think of a  _ few _ requests.”

“Request away.”

“This might sound odd, but it’s in the spirit of being spoiled.  Do you remember today when Malachite carried me in her hands?”

“It feels like it was a lot longer ago than earlier today, but yes,” Lapis said.  “I was proud of her taking such good care of you — I think she was proud of herself too.”

“Finding out you can be gentle feels good,” Jasper said, and her hand paused in its circling on Pearl’s back to press lightly for a moment.  

“Well, it made me feel… important.  I liked it.  And Jasper, your hands aren’t as big but they’re quite big enough to make a little seat for me in your lap, and you can sort of — yes, here, let me lean back against you — don’t you make a lovely throne?”  She reached her arms up and back to stroke Jasper’s hair, tilting her head to look up at her.  

“You getting in a little rehearsal for playing the princess?” Jasper asked, bending her head to kiss Pearl’s cheek softly.  

“I hadn’t thought of that, but how nice.”

“The question is,” Lapis said, scootching in closer to them on her knees, “whether serving as the princess’s throne for a day is one of the rewards or one of the punishments.”

“It can be either,” said Pearl, quickly improvising.  “If it’s a punishment you’re bound into this position and you’re not allowed to move or speak.  If it’s a reward you’re not bound and you’re allowed to pet the princess.  We can work that idea up later, though.  Lapis, is there some  _ reason _ why you’re still wearing all your clothes?”

“I just haven’t had a reason to take them off yet,” Lapis said, shrugging.

“That’s my next request.  Take them off, please.  Manually.”

“Manually?” Lapis said, smiling.  “Okay, no disappearing tricks.  Here I go.”  She reached behind her neck to untie the bow, pulling the end of the ribbon out to full length before dropping it so her top slipped down to uncover her breasts, small and pointed with a very light dusting of golden freckles.  Her nipples were a deep dark royal blue, like drops of ink on their tips, Pearl thought.  Lapis reached behind herself to slip the hook and eye that she seldom bothered with, and laid her top aside before straightening up and putting her shoulders back, showing off a little.  “Ta-daa,” she said.  “And now…”  She rose up on her knees and slipped her thumbs inside the waistband of her skirt, stretching it enough to wriggle down over her hips and drop in a puddle around her knees.  “All off.”

“Perfect,” said Pearl.  “Come and kiss me.”  She wrapped her arms around Lapis as she leaned in, accepting a soft, open-mouthed kiss, Lapis’ tongue gently fluttering against hers.  

“What do you need me to do?” Jasper asked.

“Well, you two want to work as a team, so I think you should try.”

“I know,” said Lapis, “you stroke where she’s sitting and I’ll take care of the upper regions.”

“Good idea,” Jasper said, “but I’m still kissing anything I can reach.” Pearl lifted her hand and felt Jasper’s lips warm on her palm.  Jasper’s fingers curled to hold her inner thighs more firmly and her thumbs moved against her hips.  “Love you,” she murmured.  Then Lapis was kissing her again, and her cool hands stroked Pearl’s chest, coaxing her nipples stiff and tingling.  

_ Jasper is a sun-warmed stone for me to lean back on and Lapis is the soft cool stream that strokes my body.  My two wonderful loves, all around me.   _ “Oh, I feel very spoiled,” she said softly, and kissed Lapis hungrily as her hands skimmed down over her tummy and back up to play with her nipples again.  She felt luxuriously passive, resting in Jasper’s hands and against her broad chest, her legs spread and strong fingers kneading lightly at her thighs.  

Jasper kissed the top of her head and murmured, deep and soft, “We love you.”

“We love you,” Lapis repeated, her voice lighter, and together they repeated it as they stroked her and kissed her, as she grew warm and then hot, and Jasper shifted her hands so Pearl’s bottom rested on one palm and she steadied her with the other hand on her tummy.  Her middle and ring fingers worked slowly over Pearl’s outer lips, up and down the soft slit between them, just teasing at its edges and not yet nudging inside.  Lapis took her nipples in her mouth, grazing from one to the other, her tongue soft at first and gliding over them silkily, then flicking at them more firmly and insistently, glancing up at her with sweet, teasing eyes to see how she was taking it.

“Oh, my darlings…  I want… I want… here, Jasper.”  She reached down for Jasper’s hand and guided her fingers to press inward.

“Mmm?”  Jasper parted her fingers and Pearl’s lips and she felt the air kiss the wet inner surface.

“And Lapis… here…”  She stroked Lapis’ hair back from her forehead and gently pressed her head down.  “Please?”

“Of course, silly.”  She nestled down and Jasper tilted Pearl’s hips towards her.  “Oh, always helpful.”  

“Well, teamwork,” Jasper said.  She sounded a little embarrassed and Pearl felt her body shift as if she’d shrugged.  Perhaps she thought Lapis was making fun of her by using Pearl’s words again; Pearl had thought it sounded sincere.  Lapis was gazing up at both of them as she kissed Pearl’s mound and slipped the tip of her tongue down between her lips.

“Now work together,” Pearl murmured, “Jasper from below and Lapis from above.”

“Like this?”  Jasper twitched the tip of her finger back and forth a little below Lapis’ lips.

“Oh yes…”

Lapis made a little enquiring noise and flickered her tongue over Pearl’s clitoris, and she repeated, “Oh,  _ yes!” _  She could feel the hesitation between Jasper and Lapis, and it bothered her not to know how to guide them past that, but she was fairly sure they’d only find ways that worked by trusting each other and trying together.  It didn’t have to mean anything was  _ wrong,  _ it was  _ tricky _ to co-ordinate lovemaking between three people of different shapes and sizes, and all her own experience with groups had been with other near-identical Pearls and so long ago the details were faded.  

_ It  _ doesn’t  _ have to mean anything is wrong,  _ she reminded herself.   _ This  _ is  _ tricky.  And they’re trying with love and patience which is the only way to make these things work, Rose told me that again and again when I was upset that things I tried to do for her hadn’t gone as planned, and if I drift away from them in my head now I think I’ll be sorry.  I should concentrate on them, and how unutterably sweet Lapis looks looking up at me from between my legs, and how Jasper is dotting little soft kisses on my shoulder while she works her finger deeper into me.  Ooh… that’s actually a  _ very _ good distraction from drifting away in my head. _

Jasper’s free hand moved up and down from her tummy to her chest and back, and she arched up to its warmth, and gasped as Lapis found a very,  _ very _ good angle for her tongue.

“Just there, yes, where you are now, yes, go — can you go just a touch faster?  Oh, you can,  _ yes!” _

“You’re doing something right if she starts babbling,” Jasper said.  Lapis made a muffled sound of emphatic agreement that made Jasper chuckle.

“You’re both — doing  _ several _ things right, oh, I’m so proud of you!  Lapis, you’re using the stroke I showed you, I  _ love _ that, you’re so clever…”  She knew she was squirming and making it difficult for Jasper to hold her, but then again she was probably quite well anchored by the finger stroking steadily in and out.  A lovely, warm pulse was growing inside her, stronger and deeper with each finger-stroke and tongue-flick, and little escalating cries burst out of her as she panted and rode between them, arching and trembling, up to a joyful, convulsive peak.

Pearl sagged in Jasper’s arms, breathless and half-melted, and they kissed her cheeks and lips and neck and breasts, repeating that they loved her, they loved her, laughing softly and gently at her flushed, ecstatic face and the way her hands and feet were trembling.  They lay down again, cradling her between them, and she lay in a warm nest of their arms and legs with Lapis’ head tucked under her chin and Jasper’s cheek resting on top of her head, drifting in a sweet lazy state of mind and body that was much better than sleep because she was awake to enjoy it.

“Our Pearl,” Lapis murmured, and Jasper gave a kind of drowsy grunt of agreement.

“I’m so lucky… I’m so loved.”

“Yes, you are.  Very definitely the princess,” Lapis said.  “Revered and adored.”

“I don’t need to be revered but the adoration is very, very nice.”

“We’ll adore the little yellow pants off you,” said Jasper, and kissed the top of her head.  

_ “They’ve  _ been off for some time.”  Pearl stretched out her legs contentedly.  “Lapis, my darling, you’ve been neglected through all this and I’m going to take  _ such _ good care of you just as soon as I can muster the strength to move again.”

“What if you just relax and cuddle her and I can go down on her?” Jasper suggested.

“Oh, towards your goal of drowning in pussy tonight?  I’d encourage that.”

“Did she say that?” Lapis asked, giggling.  “You’re ambitious, Jasper.”

“I can do it if you help me,” Jasper said hopefully.

“Mmm.  Come on, then.”  Lapis rolled onto her back, spreading her legs lazily, keeping her arms around Pearl.  “Start licking.”

“Yes, please.”  Jasper nestled down between Lapis’ thighs and drew her tongue up between her lips in a long, smooth stroke, gazing up at the two of them.

“You look like a tiger when you grin and lick like that,” Pearl murmured.

“A tiger’s not a — not a  _ pet _ animal, is it?” Lapis asked, shifting as Jasper’s large hands folded around her hips and her thumbs stroked over her tummy.

“Not a very  _ suitable _ pet animal, but I think we may have one.  No wonder she’s so much trouble.”

Lapis breathed in sharply, tilting her hips up to Jasper’s mouth.  “But she’s — she’s  _ so _ good with her tongue.”

“Mmm.”  Pearl made herself more comfortable with her arm around Lapis’ shoulders, idly playing with her breasts with her free hand, rolling the nipples between her thumb and fingertips, teasing them with little stinging pinches.   _ This must be how Rose wanted it to be… and it  _ is _ so lovely… but I couldn’t have, just couldn’t feel that way for any of her lovers, even the sweetest and strongest of the girls.  It only works now because it’s Lapis and Jasper, and I wouldn’t  _ have _ Lapis and Jasper if I still had Rose.  Is it just that they make things different, or have I really changed? _

Lapis was nibbling at her lower lip, her eyelids fluttering, gently bossing Jasper in little impatient murmurs as to where and how to kiss and lick.  She rolled her head against Pearl’s arm and looked up at her through her lashes.  “Jasper forgot.”

“What did she forget?”

“I like her to put her hair up.”

“Oh — well, she won’t want to surface from where she is now, so shall I take care of that?”

“Mm.  Please.  Just suck there a little, yes — s-suck my lips, that’s it… and Pearl will tidy you up so I can enjoy seeing your pretty face between my legs.”  She gave a sharp little whimper, biting her lip, and as Pearl eased her arm out from under her she covered her breasts with her hands, squeezing them.

Pearl pattered barefoot across the rugs to rummage through Jasper’s box of hair things and hurried back with with one of those puffy velvet scrunchies that she wore as bracelets as much as hair ties.  She sat astride Jasper’s back and gathered and tied her hair together in a way that was really not her best work, but  _ contained _ enough to meet Lapis’ present needs.  She pushed the heavy bundle of hair aside and kissed the nape of Jasper’s neck, enjoying the way her shoulders squirmed in response and sent an undulation right through the broad, warm back beneath her.

“Better,” Lapis said, flashing her a brief smile that flickered away as she gasped and pushed her hips up to Jasper’s mouth..

“I think you’re making her very happy,” Pearl murmured, stroking up the back of Jasper’s neck and combing her fingers into the hairline to lightly drag her nails over her scalp.  “I’m so very proud of you when you give Lapis that sort of pleasure; you know that, don’t you?  To see you using everything I’ve taught you and just delighting my other sweetheart is a little bit strange but very, very satisfying.   _ Good _ Jasper; sweet, loving,  _ assiduous _ Jasper.  What are you doing?  Can’t help yourself?”  Jasper had drawn one hand down from Lapis’ hips, tucking it under her body as she drew one leg up.  She gave a deep, soft grunt as if giving Pearl her full agreement.  “Lapis, I hope you know Jasper’s playing with herself again.”

“Good,” said Lapis breathlessly.

Pearl lay comfortably on Jasper’s warm back, occasionally dropping a kiss on the back of her neck or a word of praise or encouragement in her ear, watching as she brought Lapis and then herself to orgasm.  Afterwards they lay in a cosy, dreamy stillness, Jasper’s head pillowed on Lapis’ thigh, Pearl humming softly as she stroked her hair.

“It’s just so good to be back with both of you,” Jasper murmured.  “I didn’t know how much I was going to miss that, it’s not as if I’d had time to get used to it.  But not just being with each of you, being with both of you feels really important now.  I’ve been all anxious about it too… but it’s just  _ good.” _

“And both of us together is better than Blue, right?” Lapis asked, reaching down to comb her fingers through Jasper’s hair.

“I can’t exactly compare,” said Jasper.  “I never did all  _ this _ with Blue.”

“Not for lack of trying,” said Lapis, startling Pearl with how amused she sounded.  “Oh, I don’t mean you, I mean her, she was just  _ dying _ to get into your pants, wasn’t she?”

“I don’t really think it’s funny,” Pearl said.   _ Oops. _  She hadn’t meant to get onto this subject, but since she’d started she might as well say her piece.  “I would have been very upset if they had.  I  _ was _ a little upset that they went so close to it.  You’re not to blame, Jasper, it was ambiguous and I’d never directly told you, but I’m telling you now, making love to Blue is  _ not  _ the equivalent of me or Lapis or me  _ and _ Lapis.  And I don’t want you to do it.”

With Pearl lying on her back it was difficult for Jasper to look at her, but she tried her best, turning her head and gazing up at her from the corner of one eye..  “I’m sorry.  Thinking you might feel that way was why I didn’t, but I was never sure and… I’m sorry, I  _ did _ go too far sometimes.”

“I don’t think you need to apologise so much,” Lapis said.  “It was to be expected.  You’re… there isn’t a nicer way to say easy.”

“That’s a little rough,” Jasper protested.

“Vulnerable?  Susceptible, maybe.  No, easy.”

“Why are you making light of it like that?” Pearl asked.

“Nothing  _ happened.   _ If it had I’d be singing a different tune but as it is — I don’t know, you know I make jokes of things that are uncomfortable.  And I was never opposed to Blue and Jasper getting together so much as I’m opposed to it while we all sort out how  _ we _ want to be together.  You haven’t even finished your first organisational chart and imagine how much more complicated it would get if you had to work her in as well.  Let’s just… put that off indefinitely, I don’t know.  Well, we’ll need to fuse again sooner or later, and hopefully she’ll understand how we feel then.  Do we really need to talk so much about it?”

“I’m going to turn over and I don’t want to throw you off,” Jasper said to Pearl.  “Just kind of - clamber with me, I guess.”  She rolled onto her back and hugged Pearl to her chest.  “I’m never going to choose Blue Opal over you two.  I do like her but that’s never going to be more important than how much I love  _ you.  _  She understands that too.  It’s not as if she  _ could _ steal me from you, but she wouldn’t ever really  _ try.” _  She softly kissed Pearl’s gemstone.

“Humph.”  Pearl was more than willing to be comforted but she was still a little indignant.  “I thought it was a cheap shot when she announced she was going to seduce you if we didn’t stop her.”

“Well, she was joking, but I understand if you didn’t think it was funny.”

“Clearly she gets that from me,” Lapis said with an uneasy smile.

“Let’s not discuss it any more for now,” Pearl said, reaching out to take her hand.  “The important thing is that we three are back together and we can stay together.”  She kissed Lapis’ fingers.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up in bed.  You’re right, I want to just focus on being together.  Do you want to — what  _ do _ you want to do next?”

“Oh.  We haven’t drowned Jasper in pussy yet.”  They both began to giggle, a little of the tension dissolving, though they might not have giggled if it hadn’t been there in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Pearl's organisational chart is going to become one of those "passion projects" that is somehow never _quite_ ready to see the light of day and they're going to end up organising themselves on the fly anyway. But she'll have this huge hand-drawn spreadsheet (with calligraphy, highlighting and index tabs) showing exactly how, theoretically, it would have optimally gone down.  
>  She'll build that rococo fucking machine before she ever finishes the relationship planning chart.  
> (I also stalled on writing this because I got distracted by the rococo fucking machine idea and wrote a short thing on that theme, in a separate continuity, that never went anywhere and was mostly Jasper and Peridot screwing without mechanical intervention anyway. One day I might figure out what to do with the parts I've got and what I need to add to them to have a coherent whole.)  
> (You can see why I know about ambitious projects that never quite see the light of day because you can't get them exactly how you want them.)


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please don't be excited, this isn't really an update, only an explanation.

This story has lain dormant for a long time and I can only apologise for that.  I got sidetracked by creating a completely different Jasper fix-it continuity, somewhat closer to details about the characters revealed after I began this story, which may well hit a wall similar to this one if we ever get new Jasper episodes, I suppose.  

I’m in the unusual position that I know and have known for quite a while _how the story ends_ but I cannot get the ideas together to write it out.  I’ve tried repeatedly but just can’t get it flowing again.  It’s certainly not as good but I hope it’s some use that I can give you a _summary_ of what would have happened.  

Having Celestine and Milky Quartz around is a bit of an adjustment but they’re gradually accepted and adapt themselves a bit to their surroundings.  Celestine and Peridot become good friends because each of them has a high tolerance for listening to the other talk about herself while mentally planning what she’ll say about herself next time she gets a turn, and she becomes an excellent lead vocalist for the Sex Cryptids.  Milky mopes a bit because she feels that she and Celestine were probably only so close on Homeworld because Celestine didn’t have options, but she underestimates how much Celestine counts on her for comfort and stability.  She ends up being pretty good pals with the Jaspearlapis trio, who continue to muddle along together.  

(And Jasper watches _The Clone Wars_ and cries for _days_ about clone troopers and acquires some extremely miscellaneous rescue dogs she names Rex, Cody, Tup and Fives.  She gets to go to _The Force Awakens_ together with Steven, Connie, Peridot and Amethyst and loves every frame and writes John Boyega a long heartfelt fan letter about how much Finn means to her and earnestly asking whether he thinks redemption might be possible for Captain Phasma.)

But having those two around also refocuses everyone’s minds on the fact that they can’t rely forever on Homeworld to assume Earth is doomed and not check up.  A real plan is needed and one emerges unexpectedly when Peridot realises that the software she wrote purely to enable her to steal wifi and use all the cellphone data she wants without paying, together with some of the tech from Celestine and Milky’s ship, will actually also work for remotely accessing and hijacking Homeworld’s communications system.

And so they set up a very strange kind of Skype to Yellow Diamond in which Jasper, wearing a very gaudy crown, pretends to have taken over Earth as her own kingdom.  She’s incredibly nervous about trying to bluff Yellow Diamond and can pretty much only do it by concentrating on what Princess Leia would want her to do.  But the message gets through: Jasper’s people, as she depicts it, have successful defused the threat of the Cluster and she has her own secret super weapon.  A brief clip of Celestine’s unmistakable voice - not using her killing pitch, just singing the Sex Cryptids’ first single “Dumpsterfunk” which is quite alarming enough - _abruptly plays through every speaker on Homeworld._

And so it is very kindly suggested that Yellow Diamond might just want to think about cutting her losses re: the Earth and/or suck a lemon.

The trick about this bluff, of course, is that it depends on Yellow Diamond being a ruthless enough person to assume the Crystal Gems would deploy a weapon they _never_ would, since it’s what _she’d_ do.  It isn’t exactly honourable but it gets the job done.

And so, although there are still problems to be solved, that existential threat is removed and everyone is a bit closer to living happily ever after.

And I guess then when they’ve shut off the laptop and everyone’s hugging and Jasper’s like holy shit I think I sweated through the COUCH, the temple door pschts open and out comes some green Gem nobody’s seen before and says “You all got my name wrong, it’s not Chalcedony, I’m Chrysoprase.”

I am really so sorry this hasn’t panned out properly, but I want to sincerely thank absolutely everyone who commented and encouraged me to keep going.  I hope you’ll like some of my other stuff too.  I don’t know how to finish this off… which has been the problem all along.

So thank you!


End file.
